ANC STATEMENT ON THE CITY PRESS DISTORTIONS

The African National Congress is aggrieved and angered by the distortion of Carien Du Plessis on the comments made by the Deputy Secretary General of ANC, Comrade Jessie Duarte when she spoke about the ANC election campaign (see City Press report). 

In distorting the DSG, she claims that Comrade Jessie said 'it is impossible to convince white people to vote for the ANC, so we will probably not waste time canvassing them'. In the article it is clear that this false statement originates from an unknown and faceless and so- called NEC member but is coined to suggest that the DSG made the statement. This is proof of tardy, unprofessional and provocative journalism that lacks credibility. We are surprised how the presentation of this article escaped the internal checks and balances within the City Press which also gave the article a misleading headline 'ANC won't waste it's time on white vote'.

The opposite of the article is actually what Comrade Jessie said when she emphasized the need to reach to all South Africans and that our plan is to interact with each voter at least three times before the elections including white voters. 

We view this distortion as a malicious attempt to alienate the ANC from white voters. We demand a retraction and a public apology by the journalist and City Press failure of which will leave us with no option but to approach the media ombudsman.

Statement issued by Jackson Mthembu, ANC National Spokesperson, September 1 2013

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