Premier Zille submits complaint on Press Council handling of Cape Times matter
10 August 2016
The Office of Western Cape Premier Helen Zille, has today submitted a formal complaint to the Chairperson of the Press Council of South Africa, Judge Phillip Levinsohn.
The complaint sets out our concerns regarding the Press Council's handling of our complaint against the Cape Times. The newspaper had fabricated a story about the Premier hiring a spy, misleading its readers throughout an 8 month long smear campaign. We are of the view that the entire handling of the complaint process by the press council's office, fell well below reasonable expectations.
While the Press Council's Appeals Panel - chaired by Judge Bernard Ngoepe - had ruled against the Cape Times, we believe that the ruling was not correctly implemented by the Press Council's Director, Mr Joe Thloloe.
The Appeals Panel had directed the Cape Times to publish a front page apology to Premier Zille, and grant her a right of reply to be published in the same edition.