Mandela: Press Club to take up MP's actions
2012-02-26 22:33
Johannesburg - The National Press Club is to meet Defence Minister Lindiwe Sisulu in Pretoria after MPs briefly detained a Beeld photographer at One Military Hospital, where it was thought ex-president Nelson Nandela was being treated.
By mid-morning on Saturday, news broke that Mandela had been admitted to an undisclosed hospital with a stomach ailment.
This resulted in reporters and photographers rushing from hospital to hospital in Tshwane and Johannesburg trying to locate him.
In Tshwane, Beeld photographer Theana Breugem, who had taken pictures of the One Military Hospital building, was made to delete the pictures after being briefly detained.
Such buildings are assumed to be military key points, with pictures not allowed.
In Johannesburg, journalists were told to vacate the premises of Milpark hospital - where Mandela was treated for a respiratory infection last year.
Press club chair Yusuf Abramjee said he would discuss the treatment of journalists who were stationed outside One Military with Sisulu on Monday.
He said journalists should be treated with respect and allowed to do their job without fear.
"...I've had an indication from the minister's office that she will be happy to meet a delegation from the NPC and the Foreign Correspondents Association hopefully tomorrow [Monday] to discuss the issue," Abramjee said.
"The media has a job to do....I think there could have been some common ground where the defence force could have said let's try to find a resolution or some compromise."
- SAPA
