SANEF WINS INTERDICT APPLICATION AGAINST BLACK FIRST LAND FIRST(BLF)
The South African National Editors’ Forum (Sanef) has today won an interdict against Black First Land First (BLF) and its founder, Mr Andile Mngxitama at the South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg.
Sanef asked the court to interdict BLF and Mngxitama from harassing, intimidating, assaulting and threatening eleven senior journalists, editors and commentators that have been targeted for their reporting on “state capture”.
This follows a protest at the private house of Tiso Blackstar editor at large Peter Bruce on Thursday, June 29 and the intimidation and harassment of Business Day editor Tim Cohen and political commentator Karima Brown at Bruce’s house.
BLF subsequently threatened more editors and journalists with similar protests at their private homes and have referred to Brown, HuffPost editor-at-large Ferial Haffajee and Talk Radio 702 presenter Eusebius McKaiser as “askaris”, – a deeply offensive term used mainly during the apartheid era to refer to liberation fighters who changed sides and joined the oppressive regime.
Sanef rejects BLF's deplorable attempts to racially divide the journalistic fraternity.
This has been a unifying moment for all journalists in the country and further motivation to do what we believe in: exposing injustice and wrongdoing, irrespective of colour or creed.
We are defending more than media freedom. We are defending the personal freedoms of every South African.