SANEF tasked to learn names of ‘bribed journalists’ from Justice Zondo Commission

Columnist and author Max du Preez has put the South African National Editors Forum (SANEF) to task demanding they intervene in the Zondo Commission of inquiry into state capture after allegations of bribed journalists surfaced.

Can @SAEditorsForum please send a lawyer to the Zondo Commission asking the judge to order Angelo Agrizzi to divulge the names of the journalists he said were paid off? The matter is casting a shadow over all journalists and political opportunists are using this in a campaign https://t.co/O3ytVjfdHn

— Max du Preez (@MaxduPreez) January 24, 2019

Du Preez was reacting to an explosive allegation given by Bosasa former chief operating officer Angelo Agrizzi, who said the company also had a budget to pay off some journalists to write positive stories.

Du Preez took to social media to plead for intervention from SANEF. He asked if the forum could send a lawyer to the commission to ask Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo to order Agrizzi to divulge the names of the journalists he said were bribed.

At the moment, Du Preez believed the matter was casting a shadow over all journalists, and political opportunists were using that in their campaigns.

He was responding to a tweet by Ranjeni Munusamy that Papa Leshabane was getting R71,000 a month to allegedly pay Zack Modise and journalists. Zondo asked Agrizzi after he made the allegation if what he meant was that Leshabane was paying journalists, and Agrizzi agreed.

Efforts to get the names of the journalists who were on Bosasa’s payroll have been seconded by ANC election head Fikile Mbalula and the author of The President’s Keepers, Jacque Pouw.

Mbalula said he agreed 100% that the names needed to be disclosed. This was followed by Pouw’s comment after Du Preez said Agrizzi’s affidavit was used to direct his evidence and that he could be questioned on anything.

Pouw said: “We know that journalists were involved in state capture. We’ve exposed the corrupt investigations unit at Sunday Times and now we need to do the same to those on Bosasa’s payroll.”

There’s no digging required for the journalist’s names according to Du Preez, who added that Agrizzi mentioned they had a list of corrupt journalists and that all that was needed was to get him to publish the list.

A group of journalists were allegedly on Bosasa’s bribe-payroll according to Agrizzi’s black book which contained coded names and amounts allegedly paid to numerous government, labour union, and company officials.

When Zondo asked Agrizzi why the journalists were paid by Leshabane, he replied by saying to write good stories. Agrizzi, however, did not name any of the journalists nor did he name the media houses or publications they worked for at the time.

His testimony continues.