Prove slurs against
journalists or withdraw them, says editor
Candice Bailey | 20 March, 2013 06:57
Image by: Gallo Images/Thinkstock
The Sunday Times has
formally asked the SA Police Service to provide evidence of claims that its
journalists were paid to publish a damning story on top Hawks bosses - or
withdraw the allegation.
The newspaper's editor, Ray Hartley, lodged an application in terms of
the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) on Friday afternoon.
The three award-winning journalists who wrote the story - Rob Rose,
Stephan Hofstatter and Mzilikazi wa Afrika - have each launched their own
applications.
This comes after a report by the police's Colonel Kobus Roelofse - which
claimed there had been interference in the investigation of former
crime-intelligence boss Richard Mdluli - was filed in court on Wednesday. It
formed part of an application by Freedom Under Law to interdict Mdluli.
Roelofse claimed crime-intelligence finance head Major-General Solly
Lazarus and others discussed paying Sunday Times journalists to publish a
newspaper report that would cast doubt on those investigating them.
Hartley strongly denied the accusation, saying: "We are doing
absolutely everything that we can to obtain the information which supposedly
shows a corrupt relationship between our journalists and the police.
"If we do not obtain solid evidence of this from the police, we
demand that they withdraw the insinuations," he said.
Hartley has also written to acting national police commissioner
Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi and Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa with
the same demand.
He said the application and the letters were submitted at the same time
as it was a matter of urgency. "It would be nice if they could cut short
the PAIA process and understand the urgency of the request. We are not sure
that they take those allegations seriously as they are credited to an unnamed
source who overheard a conversation. We take the allegations seriously,"
said Hartley.
According to Roelofse's report, an unnamed crime-intelligence officer,
who the Sunday Times can identify as Dhanajay Naven Naidoo, went to Lazarus's
house.
There, Naidoo is said to have heard Lazarus and officers Vivek Singh and
Devendran Appalsamy Naidoo discussing the placement of a newspaper article
relating to Hawks boss Lieutenant-General Anwa Dramat and his colleague, Major
General Shadrack Sibiya.
The article, Roelofse claimed, was published in the Sunday Times on
October 23, and Mdluli used it to make representations to the National
Prosecuting Authority to cast suspicion on Dramat and his investigating team.
The article reported that members of the Hawks and the police, along
with Zimbabwean police, were arresting Zimbabwean nationals in South Africa and
illegally sending them to Zimbabwe, where some faced beatings or even death.
Mthethwa recently told parliament that the illegal rendition claims were
part of an ongoing investigation.
Devendran Naidoo refused to comment. Lazarus did not answer his
cellphone or respond to messages. Singh said: "We have to respect SAPS and
I can't comment on something I am not aware of."
Roelofse's cellphone was answered by a man who identified himself as
Colonel Burger. He referred queries to Hawks spokesman Colonel McIntosh Polela,
as did Mkhwanazi's and Mthethwa's offices. Polela declined to comment, saying
the allegations would eventually be tested in court .
