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The African National Congress welcomes the ruling of the Press Ombudsman to dismiss the frivolous and baseless complaint laid by the DA against seasoned journalists Karima Brown and Vukani Mde. As usual the DA has gone on a fishing expedition wanting to demonise anything and anyone that seems to faintly support the African National Congress and Congress movement as a whole. The duplicity and two facedness that is the DA knows no bounds. According to them, they have a monopoly of intelligence while the rest of South Africa is too ignorant to know that the DA actively courts journalists with some of them having even joined their parliamentary benches after having been clandestine operatives of the DA while still in newsrooms. Many more still remain, actively pursuing the DA agenda publishing anti-ANC propaganda on a daily basis at the behest of the DA. To the DA however, these people must never be called out, undermined and disrespected as has been done to Ms Brown and Mr Mde b ecause in South Africa you are only objective and professional if you support the DA.

We once again want to remind the DA that freedom of speech means that everyone in this country is at liberty to hold and share their own views on any matter. It does not mean that it is only voices that are anti-ANC that should be heard. The Press Ombudsman`s ruling has been instructive and absolves the Independent Group against the concerted onslaught that has been meted against it by the DA and its ilk. The DA has nothing substantive on material published by the Independent Group to raise with the Ombudsman relating to their allegations of bias by the Group. The test isn`t whether journalist are affiliated to a politcal party or not, they must judged by their writtings, balance and objective reporting. In true form, demonstrating the depth of their desperation, the DA attacks the personal integrity of journalists who over many years have built and sustained their reputations on critical engagement, independent views and utmost professionalism.

Issued by ANC