Newly-elected African National Congress (ANC) president Cyril Ramaphosa has apologised to the media for reports of ill-treating journalists during the just-ended party national elective conference.
This follows the man-handling of a member of the Bloomberg media company Sam Mkokheli by a high ranking VIP protection officer at the precincts of the Nasrec Expo centre where the conference was held.
The incident was caught on video and sparked fierce criticism from media organisations including the South African National Editors Forum (Sanef).
Mkokheli was eventually allowed back and his accreditation returned following the intervention of ANC communications officials including Small Business Development Minister, Lindiwe Zulu.
In his closing address Ramaphosa stressed that the media should be allowed to do their work without any hindrance.
“I wish to register our concern about an incident at this Conference involving a journalist and security officials. We have sought a report on what happened and must look at how we ensure such incidents do not occur in the future. And I can say that the security official that was involved will be held accountable for the situation that occurred,” says Ramaphosa.
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