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- The Press Ombudsman found that The Sunday Independent and IOL breached clauses of the Press Code related to comment and opinion writing.
- Significantly, it was also found that the "corporate voice" of the publications came through strongly.
- Iqbal Survé was berated for calling News24's Karyn Maughan "a dog".
The Press Ombudsman has found that the publication by The Sunday Independent newspaper and IOL of an abusive opinion piece has caused "severe harm" to the personal and professional reputation of News24 journalist Karyn Maughan, and that the publications should apologise and remove the piece.
In a wide-ranging judgment by deputy ombudsman Franz Krüger, assisted by Professor Karthy Govender and veteran journalist Joe Thloloe, the panel found that The Sunday Independent and IOL transgressed three clauses of the Press Code. This includes the failure to meet the requirements for protected comment in Clause 7.2, and breaching Clause 3.3 as well as Clause 2.1.
The panel reiterated that comment and free speech should be defended and that while criticism and comment could be robust, it should be fair and based on fact.
News24 laid the complaint against The Sunday Independent after a column was published in the newspaper and online by IOL, written by a contributor identifying himself as Edmond Phiri, comparing Maughan to a Nazi propagandist and an apartheid operative. The author offered no evidence of this.
The piece was widely promoted and distributed on almost all IOL's social media platforms, including The Star and The Cape Times. They will also have to apologise to Maughan and retract their posts.
The panel also found the following:
- Sunday Independent should have taken "some consideration" to the tone of the Phiri piece, given "the toxic environment women journalists encounter online";
- The panel was "particularly concerned" by an X post by Iqbal Survé, the proprietor of The Sunday Independent and IOL, "calling Maughan a dog and using violent imagery", and called it "unacceptable";
- The voice of the corporate owners of The Sunday Independent and IOL "comes through very clearly in social media posts" and they have presented corporate views as news; and
- Phiri, The Sunday Independent and IOL overstepped the mark between legitimate criticism to engage in "abuse".
The ruling follows a recent apology by The Sunday Independent, IOL and journalist Masibongwe Sihlahla to News24 and journalists Nick Wilson, Jeff Wicks and Jan Cronjé, following a similar opinion piece.
Read the full ruling here.
