Having destroyed the credibility of their Cape Times newspaper, Independent Group has moved on to duping their readers using the Cape Argus.
The Argus today leads with the complete fabrication that a firm had unduly secured a tender to provide disadvantaged learners with educational material. There was, in fact, no tender at all. When this falsehood falls away, there is no story left.
The facts are as follows:
The Argus’s claim that the Premier personally intervened in a procurement process to award a tender to Paper Video is completely false. There was no tender and the person in question was a maths teacher at the time, who approached the Education Department in that capacity only. The initiative represented a significant donation of time and resources by a teacher.
The printing of outright fabrications as front page leads has become commonplace for the Independent Group, which has withdrawn all of their titles from the accountability of the Press Ombudsman process.
Both The Argus and Cape Times have joined the ranks of The New Age, as cheap propaganda rags with little regard for their own credibility. The total disregard shown for the intelligence of their readers is the number one reason why the circulation of Independent’s Cape titles continues to decline.
Today’s latest fabrication follows various attempted fabrications by the Independent Group aimed at smearing Premier Zille.
Previously the Cape Times had run an eight-month long smear campaign against Premier Zille, with the newspaper falsely claiming she had hired a “spy”, before being stopped in its tracks by the Press Appeals Council. The Independent Group then withdrew its membership of the Press Council.
The Independent Group has also in the past falsely claimed in an editorial that Premier Zille had little involvement in exposing the killing of Steve Biko, yet another fabrication without any substance. The Cape Times also recently led with a distorted quote from the Premier, for which they were forced to apologise on their front page the following day.
We will continue to expose the distorted and unethical reporting of Independent Media, and its regular dishonesty with its readers.
Michael Mpofu
Spokesperson for Premier Helen Zille
071 564 5427
021 483 4584
Michael.Mpofu@westerncape.gov.za