Ngcuka story 'iced' - reporter

2003-09-15 08:42

Cape Town - Sunday Times reporter Ranjeni Munusamy, suspended because she gave City Press newspaper her report on Bulelani Ngcuka, did so because the Times refused to publish it, she says.

Munusamy said the Sunday Times editor refused for five weeks to publish the results of her investigation into Scorpions boss, that he was an apartheid spy.

Editor Mathatha Tsedu refused on Sunday night to add to what he wrote on Sunday's front page, a brief note that Munusamy had been suspended pending a disciplinary inquiry.

"Ranjeni can say and believe what she wants. If we wanted to say more, we would have written more," he said.

In her statement, Munusamy said that in refusing to publish her story, Tsedu told her she "could surrender" the documents on the issue.

She alleged there had been a media attack on Zuma, which, according to her, stemmed from a meeting between Ngcuka and some of the country's black newspaper editors, including Tsedu.

An 'inappropriate relationship'

Munusamy claimed also there was a "healthy and mutually beneficial relationship" between the Scorpions and the Sunday Times, but that a rather inappropriate relationship also existed between the Scorpions and some people at the newspaper.

She said the decision to suspend her was an attempt by Tsedu "to use his newspaper to wipe the egg from his face".

"I took a deliberate and well-considered decision to give the information to City Press.

"I believe the publishing of the story was in the national interest and consistent with journalistic principles of objectivity, balance and telling all sides of the story," she said.

No date has been set for the disciplinary hearing.

- The Witness