Sunday Times online ( 4/2/2008 ) — 02/04/2008
ANC PARTY/STATE BID TO MUZZLE SUNDAY TIMES?
Xolile Bhengu
Editors fear papers could become government propaganda organs

The South African National Editors Forum has raised concerns about a R5-billion bid by government officials for the company that owns The Times and the Sunday Times. Koni Media Holdings wants an 'outright purchase' of Avusa, Business Times reported. Raymond Louw, chairman of Sanef's Media Freedom Committee, said he was not convinced that Koni was motivated entirely by business interests. 'This is deeply alarming, as the company [Koni] is composed of prominent civil servants, and this may be an attempt to bring their own opinions to the Sunday Times,' he said. Koni Media is owned by President Thabo Mbeki's political adviser Titus Mafolo, foreign affairs spokesman Ronnie Mamoepa, former chief of state protocol Billy Modise and businessman Groovin Nchabaleng.
 
Where does the money come from?
Louw said: 'We are not suggesting that they are out to suppress press freedom but, as civil servants, they represent government’s viewpoint and they could use the publications as a platform for government propaganda.’ The Avusa group also owns the Sowetan, Sunday World and Daily Dispatch, and has a 50percent stake in Business Day, and the Financial Mail. The Mvelaphanda Group, owned by businessman Tokyo Sexwale [elected in December to a prominent position in the ANC’s National Executive Committee – ed], recently announced its successful conclusion of a R1.4-billion deal with fund manager Allan Gray for a 30 percent stake in Avusa. Louw expressed concern about the vague details of the Koni offer. 'Where did [Koni Media] get the money from?' Louw asked.
 
Approach to the government employees' pension fund
Business Times reported last year that Koni Media had approached the Public Investment Corporation for funding. The PIC manages R700-billion of assets on behalf of the Government Employees Pension Fund. Koni Media head Billy Modise told the Sunday Times in November last year that the company was proud to be associated with the ANC, but it had not been asked by government to buy Avusa. Prakash Desai, CEO of Avusa, would only confirm that the company had received correspondence from Koni Media. Desai said correspondence did not constitute an offer for shares or assets, and therefore it did not require a decision by Avusa’s board or shareholders. Koni Media was reported to have approached financial institutions Rand Merchant Bank and Old Mutual for funding for the offer. It has refuted rumours that it is also eyeing the weekly Mail & Guardian.
 
A dubious interface between business and politics in South Africa
Asked how the company would balance the relationship between the press and the state, Modise said Koni Media would handle these issues as it would in any other company in which it had an interest. In November, Modise said: ‘We are going into this as business and not to carry out policy.’ He refused to comment on how the Sunday Times had treated stories about government leaders, such as notorious Minister of Health Manto Tshabalala- Msimang. The newspaper revealed her conviction for theft in Botswana during the 1970s and her abuse of power during a stay in a Cape Town hospital under the memorable headline ‘Manto: A drunk and a thief’.
 
[Note by Ever-fasternews: Press freedom in South Africa was continuously under assault by the apartheid regime. The ANC appears increasingly to be moulded in the autocratic template of its predecessor. Given its control of government, corruption involving funding of the ANC out of state revenues is the common thread linking three successive scandals: the arms deal, the Imvume oil deal and the contract with ANC-owned Chancellor House for supply of coal to the state power monopoly, Eskom. In light of the previous history of the ANC in government, any relation between a company owned by ANC personnel (Koni Media) and the Government Employees Pension Fund must give rise to suspicion. When the focus of this relation is acquisition and control of press organs independent of the ANC and the government, and frequently critical of them, the struggle for independence of the media in South Africa over the past sixty years - both under the National Party and the ANC - strengthens that suspicion. Ever-fasternews associates itself with Sanef’s concerns about press freedom at the hands of the ANC, both inside and outside government. The Sunday Times under Editor Mondli Makhanya is one of the most formidable critics of the Mbeki regime and of corruption, incompetence and abuse of government office generally. Its purchase by a pro-Mbeki group would be a disaster for press freedom in South Africa.– Ed]