NEWSWATCH: Yesterday, Thursday, 8 April 2010, Julius Malema insulted British BBC journo Jonah Fisher, calling him a ‘bastard' and referred to him as ‘this thing' after the journalist made a pointed remark regarding the ANCYL leader's residential address, reports Mail & Guardian. Malema's outburst has been slammed by SANEF and ProJourn, reports IOL, which also writes that unions are keeping a close eye on the corporation to ensure union members are not retrenched during the restructuring of News International. The ANC this afternoon, Friday 9 April, issued a statement strongly condemning both the actions of Malema and AWB leader André Visagie yesterday, stating these do not augur well for freedom of expression, reports incoming Sunday Times editor Ray Hartley on his Times LIVE blog.
IOL: SANEF condemns Malema's conduct… The South African National Editors' Forum (SANEF) says Malema's verbal attack amounts to censorship and is ‘totally unacceptable'.
IOL: Malema undermines journalists - media group… Malema's outburst is an ‘affront to media freedom', the Professional Journalists' Association said in a statement, following the ANCYL leader's string of insults at a British journalist after the latter had pointed out a little home truth about Malema's residential address.
IOL: Unions want to prevent retrenchment… Meanwhile, back at the SABC, the corporation is back in the unions' spotlight; the Communication Workers Union (CWU) and Broadcast, Electronic Media and Allied Workers Union (Bemawu) have announced they plan another meeting to ensure that the corporation's managers kept their word that full-time employees in News International division would not be retrenched.
