The Congress of the People (COPE) would like to go on record in expressing their objection to two e.tv journalists being subpoenaed to reveal criminal sources.
COPE’s statement reads: “The recent expose of criminals saying that they would “rob tourists during the 2010 World Cup’ is disturbing, but attacking journalists for the failures of Government to solve the problem of crime and its root cause, poverty, is not going to make any difference. That government would waste time and money in persecuting journalists is surely no more than an expensive exercise in saving face.
“The condemnation of these journalists by Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa and Police Commissioner Bheki Cele is a result of the programme embarrassing the police. Instead of lambasting the channel and the journalists in question, they should be applauded for exposing the scope of the challenges South Africa faces in the run up to the FIFA World Cup.
“Ethically speaking, Minister Mthethwa is in no position to be morally outraged. His conduct is questionable as he regularly mugs the taxpayer by staying in expensive hotels, and then tries to seize the moral high ground by calling for a policy to be drafted on such wasteful expenditure. Perhaps if the money being spent on Minister Mthethwa’s outrageous and unjustifiable hotel bills had been spent on poverty eradication and job creation, these very criminals would not have to resort to crime. We have to be as hard on sanctimonious posturing as we are on crime and criminals. Moral leadership filters down from the very top.
“The subpoenas against these journalists are also an attack on one of the pillars of a functional democracy – the free press and the fundamental rights of journalists to protect their sources. COPE calls on these journalists to defend these principles in the face of adversity.’
