South Africa: Threats Against Journalists

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The South African National Editors' Forum (Sanef) is outraged at reports that journalists in Mpumalanga are on a hit list targeting corruption busters in the province.

The existence of the hit list first surfaced in Sunday World of January 10 and has been repeated in Friday’s Mail & Guardian. So far two provincial government officials said to have been on the list have been murdered. Samuel Mpatlanyane, Mpumalanga's sports and culture department head of communications, was shot dead by assassins during the night last week.

Vusi Shongwe, the province's sports and culture minister, has blamed the murder on the same people who killed Mbombela municipality speaker Jimmy Mohlala. Mohlala was similarly executed at home in front of his son last January. He was a witness in a disciplinary hearing concerning financial mismanagement related to the Mbombela Stadium, a Fifa 2010 World Cup Venue.

The murder and threatened murder of potential witnesses and journalists puts a nasty twist to South Africa’s struggle against corruption.

South Africa: Threats Against Journalists