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Independent Newspapers<\/p>\n
The city is not censoring the media but protecting the integrity of its processes, says eThekwini city manager Sbu Sithole (pictured).<\/p>\n
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Opening the eThekwini municipality\u2019s reports for public scrutiny before they were deliberated by the council was not in the ratepayers\u2019 interest, according to eThekwini city manager S\u2019bu Sithole, because the media slanted the debate, often impeding deeper understanding of an issue. <\/p>\n
He was speaking to The Mercury about a decision by the ANC in the council to embargo agendas for the executive committee and portfolio committee meetings. <\/p>\n
These documents had always been available to the media but were restricted for the first time this week and would now only be available on the day of the meeting. <\/p>\n
Sithole said the media did not understand some issues because they were technical, and not all reports were for decision-making \u2013 some were for noting purposes. <\/p>\n
The city was not censoring the media but protecting the integrity of its processes, he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf you look at custom and practice everywhere, the executive committee must discuss issues without any negative influence. <\/p>\n
\u201cMost issues that are debated are already in the newspaper and they take a particular slant. It makes our jobs very difficult,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
In Cape Town, meanwhile, agendas, reports and the minutes of all City of Cape Town meetings are still available to journalists before council meetings. Hard copies are also made available from the metro\u2019s media office and information is available on the city\u2019s website. <\/p>\n
Ian Neilson, Cape Town\u2019s executive deputy mayor, said: \u201cThis is part of the city\u2019s commitment to openness and transparency.\u201d <\/p>\n
The DA caucus leader in Nelson Mandela Bay municipality (Port Elizabeth), Leon de Villiers, said eThekwini\u2019s actions were a \u201cgross abuse of power\u201d. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe do not have such a rule in Port Elizabeth and, if we did, we would oppose it. The public should be encouraged to come to all council meetings and they should be well informed about what will be discussed, more so because it has an impact on ratepayers,\u201d he said, adding that putting an embargo on agendas worked against all principles of open democracy. <\/p>\n
City of Joburg spokesman Nthatisi Modingoane said council agendas and reports were made available to the media on the day of the council meeting on request. <\/p>\n
\u201cPortfolio committee meetings and executive committee meeting are, by law, not open to the public. Therefore journalists are not allowed to attend these meetings.\u201d <\/p>\n
The DA\u2019s eThekwini caucus leader, Tex Collins, said his party was \u201cappalled\u201d by the decision. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe ANC is rotten to the core, and this foolish and unconstitutional effort to gag the media will backfire on them badly,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt has become increasingly obvious that the ruling party has no answer to the many problems Durban now faces and, as a result, will use every available method to prevent the truth from being exposed.\u201d <\/p>\n
Collins said the city\u2019s action had not come before exco or the council for debate, making it illegal. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt also flies in the face of good governance and transparency\u2026 It is hoped that the media will fight this action as vigorously as the DA. The DA will never accept a gag of this nature,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n
Right2Know national co-ordinator Mark Weinberg said this was another example of the veil of secrecy creeping over society. \u201cIn a democracy, elected leaders should have nothing to hide. The public has every right to be informed and discuss issues before decisions are taken, precisely to inform those decisions,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Independent Newspapers The city is not censoring the media but protecting the integrity of its processes, says eThekwini city manager Sbu Sithole (pictured). Opening the eThekwini municipality\u2019s reports for public scrutiny before they were deliberated by the council was not in the ratepayers\u2019 interest, according to eThekwini city manager S\u2019bu Sithole, because the media slanted […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[8275,953,2143],"class_list":{"0":"post-16683","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-south-africa","7":"tag-durban","8":"tag-newspaper","9":"tag-the-mercury","10":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16683","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16683"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16683\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16683"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16683"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16683"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}