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	Aangebied deur:

During the recent past many articles on the dangers of pollution have appeared in the press. This subject has also been a regular visitor on radio and TV. From what I gather a political dimension was slapped in for good measure. My decision to stay out of this fracas was based on the fact that the subject is extremely complicated and cannot be ventilated for the benefit of the community in the public media as long as “sensation” remains the key driver. After the appearance of the Beeld article I was approached for comment. The scary part is the contention that the folk “affected” may have been exposed to high levels of radiation and the National Nuclear Regulator does not appear to have been moved to establish whether the community is in need of protection. My response was that one should not always believe what newspapers print. The first step is to establish whether the source was quoted in context. The advice I gave was that there was no need for alarm until verification was available as this may be another example of irresponsible journalism. May I compliment Ms Martins, who took the trouble to contact the source? When the Herald pointed out that it was present, with no apparent ill effects, suspicion, was toned down to the quoted admission: “Ek weet nie wat met die verteenwoordigers gebeur het nie”. Is this not a totally different kettle of fish? This brouhaha would have been ignored but for the fact that your article launched another batch of questions to which I was asked to respond. Since repetition can lend credibility, concern may exacerbate if the issue is not addressed. Seeing that Cansa is responsible for the ’dust-up’, I believe that it owes the community an explanation based on hard facts in a report that can be peer reviewed. Better still, Cansa should be invited to attend a public meeting to inform the community of the results of their visit and be prepared to answer questions from the floor. May I suggest that the Herald approach the executive mayor to take the initiative in this direction? Should Cansa decline the above invitation, then it would be fair to conclude that the episode is another unfortunate example of ’adventurous’ journalism, and we have more than a few recent examples along the same lines. Meanwhile, the short answer to the question: “Should we wear masks?”, in a humble opinion based on forty plus years of research is: “No!” unless one is bent on a career in hi-jacking, or bank robbery, where masking may be an option.

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