(MISA/IFEX) – A journalist and a cameraman from the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) have both been charged with trespassing after they were allegedly assaulted, on 23 June 1998, by the manager of a private Catholic school they were doing a story on. The two NBC employees, Unomengi Kauapirura and cameraman Hadley Mwashekeleh, have since laid […]
(MISA/IFEX) – A journalist and a cameraman from the Namibian Broadcasting
Corporation (NBC) have both been charged with trespassing after they were
allegedly assaulted, on 23 June 1998, by the manager of a private Catholic
school they were doing a story on. The two NBC employees, Unomengi
Kauapirura and cameraman Hadley Mwashekeleh, have since laid charges of
assault against the manager of the Gunichas Junior Secondary School,
Phillipus Pollitzer.
Background Information
The matter started in January 1998, when Kauapirura, who works on the
current affairs programme “Channel One”, did a story stemming from various
allegations being made by parents against the management of the school.
These allegations included a claim that parents were being charged
exorbitant fines for various offences being committed by their children, the
death of a child at the school (with the father of the child claiming that
he had only been informed of the death a week later), and claims by parents
that the school management was refusing to hear their various complaints.
The story which was subsequently aired included interviews with certain
parents and students as well as an interview with Pollitzer, who responded
to the various allegations. In a letter to NBC following the broadcast,
Pollitzer labelled the report “vicious, unprofessional, libellous,
one-sided, unbalanced and unfair” and further accused Kauapirura of being
unprofessional. Subsequent to the airing of the story, Kauapirura received
further information that the children of the parents she had interviewed had
been expelled from the school, while one of the children she had interviewed
had apparently retracted what he had told her.
In an attempt to follow up on these allegations, Kauapirura came up against
a brick wall with Pollitzer and the principal, Justus Molebugi, refusing to
grant her any interviews. On 23 June 1998, Kauapirura and her cameraman once
again went to the school to confront the authorities on the latest
allegations, but were unable to get any responses or interviews. As they
were returning back to their office, they came across Pollitzer, who
stopped them on the road. He informed them they he had laid a charge of
trespassing against them, and then allegedly proceeded to assault the
cameraman to prevent him from filming. The assault was recorded on tape.
While still refusing to speak to Kauapirura to respond to the latest
allegations, Pollitzer was informed that a follow-up piece on the school
would be aired with or without his cooperation.
In a letter to NBC Director General Ben Mulongeni shortly before the
follow-up piece was aired, Pollitzer demanded an on-air apology for the
initial story, and also requested that the NBC team meet him, on the
condition that the footage about the alleged assault was not aired. NBC
refused to meet these demands, and the piece was aired.
No trial date has been set for either of the two cases: the charge of
trespassing against the two NBC employees, and the charge of assault against
Pollitzer. However, a report in the “New Era” newspaper on 10 July 1998
indicated that the police had put both charges on hold, at the request of
the two parties, until they had sought an amicable solution to the matter.
