(FXI/IFEX) – Brian Vel, a radio journalist for the Kimberly bureau of the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), was suspended with pay on 5 April 1998, apparently because he had contributed to an article which appeared in the “Mail & Guardian” newspaper. In a letter from the SABC’s human resources department in Johannesburg, Vel was […]
(FXI/IFEX) – Brian Vel, a radio journalist for the Kimberly bureau of the
South
African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), was suspended with pay on 5 April
1998, apparently because he had contributed to an article which appeared in
the “Mail & Guardian” newspaper. In a letter from the SABC’s human resources
department in Johannesburg, Vel was informed that he had been suspended
pending an investigation into his involvement in irregularities in leaking
news to other media and working for other media while in the employ of the
SABC.
Using the pseudonym, Sechaba ka’Nkosi, Vel was credited along with another
journalist for an article which appeared in the “Mail & Guardian”‘s 13 March
1998 edition. The article detailed various allegations against the Premier
of the Northern Cape, Manne Dipico, including his involvement in the arrest
of a local businessman for allegedly
dealing in uncut diamonds. When confronted by his superiors about the story,
Vel admitted that he had contributed to the story. According to SABC rules,
an employee of the corporation cannot accept other employment without
permission.
Vel told the FXI that he had passed the story on to the “Mail & Guardian”
only after his editor had refused to use the story. It was the first time he
had written or contributed to a story in the “Mail & Guardian.” He said also
that the day the story appeared in the “Mail & Guardian”, the main
English-language radio service of the SABC, (Johannesburg’s) SAFM, had asked
him to file a report on the story, which he did and which was used on SAFM.
Vel claimed that there were political motives behind his current suspension
and pending investigation. He alleged that the African National Congress
(ANC) in the Northern Cape was applying pressure on the SABC to dismiss him
because of several reports he had filed which were embarrassing to the
party. On 31 March 1998, the ANC Northern Cape
accused Vel, along with another journalist, of being involved with a group
of “disgruntled” individuals that were conspiring to destabilize the
Northern Cape provincial government. In a media statement, the ANC named Vel
and Baldwin Ndaba, a reporter for the “Diamond Fields Advertiser” newspaper,
also based in Kimberly, as being part of an elaborate campaign to discredit
the provincial government “through their disinformation campaign in certain
publications.” Both journalists had over the previous few weeks reported on
various aspects of the ANC in the Northern Cape and the provincial
government.
In reaction to the media statement, “Diamond Fields Advertiser” managing
editor Kevin
Ritchie denied that his reporters had hidden agendas. He said, “the same
zeal is applied to any story of political importance, irrespective of party
or creed.” In his reaction, Vel said that by attacking the media, the ANC
was trying to divert attention away from government scandal. “Government
does not want us to publish scandal and therefore accuse the media of
plotting against them. The Northern Cape Government wants to hold the media
to ransom by saying the media shouldn’t write certain stories”, he said.
