Press corps: Sex lives 'not relevant'
2002-04-22 09:21
Cape Town - President Thabo Mbeki's office and media organisations plan an urgent meeting to discuss the "crude treatment" of journalists and possible unconstitutional action by the National Intelligence Service (NIS) against those wanting to qualify for the presidemtial press corps.
The meeting follows Sunday's reports that journalists, who applied for membership to the corps, were questioned by the NIS on their sexuality, sexual behaviour and even bank records during the interviews to ascertain whether they posed a security risk to Mbeki.
Journalists were asked by the NIS whether they were gay and married journalists were asked to comment on the state of their marriage.
"It is not these people's sexuality or their sexual behaviour that had to be judged, but we had to determine whether they had something to hide, something they could be blackmailed with later. If you are gay, it does not mean it will count against you," said an NIS source.
Opposition parties said the types of questions and the NIS's intention to subject journalists to lie-detector tests bordered on unconstitutional actions.
"It is definitely not in the spirit in which the presidency and the GCIS [the government's information and communication service] approached the establishment of a presidential media corps," said one of the journalists involved.
The corps members, who comprise representatives from the country's most-prominent media groups, are supposed to be appointed on April 30.
Journalists nominated by their groups as members of the media corps, have agreed to undergo security clearance as they will be accompanying Mbeki on state visits and will have direct access to the president.
The nature of the NIS questions and the possibility of lie detector tests were, however, never discussed by the GCIS and journalists when an interim committee, consisting of representatives from both groups, met in Pretoria recently.
The only requirement, as part of the clearance process, was that journalists should complete a form with a number of questions.
Democratic Alliance MP Dene Smuts said the NIS's questions on sexuality gave "a new meaning to the concept, state institution", which normally indicated government bureaucracy.
"The sex lives of journalists cannot serve as a criteria for their inclusion into the corps without compromising their privacy," said Smuts. She believed such ridiculous questions damaged Mbeki's dignity and esteem.
Francois Beukman, Nnew National Party media director, said the NIS questions into people's private lives were in contravention of section 14 of the constitution.
"Security clearance may not be used to obtain information that is irrelevant or unfitting. The meaning of a constitutional state is that all three bodies must uphold the Constitution in theory and in practice," he said.