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Community Business Directory, Event Listings, News and Views from Gqeberha, Nelson Mandela Bay

NMB’s Press Bullies

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Dear Editor

The DA in Nelson Mandela Bay has written to the Speaker and Acting City Manager urging an immediate intervention in the coalition government’s attack on press freedom.

On Wednesday, a local journalist was removed from a Nelson Mandela Bay Mayoral Committee meeting at the insistence of the ANC, a partner in the Metro’s collapsing and ineffective coalition government.

The journalist was removed during an important session where matters of public importance and service delivery were to be debated.

Freedom of the press and other media are enshrined in the Constitution and must be protected as a cornerstone of our democracy. The role of the media cannot be arbitrarily curtailed by unscrupulous politicians and officials intent on denying the ratepayers of our city access to information.

Responsible governance demands that we protect press freedom. It therefore comes as no surprise that Mayoral Committee meetings were opened to the public in 2016 under a DA-led coalition government.

The Acting City Manager’s statement that press conferences will be held in the future to inform the media about topics discussed and decisions made undermines the Constitution. This allows the committee to cherry-pick information and only share what it perceives to be positive outcomes.

The DA condemns this attack on our constitutional democracy and requests that the Speaker intervene immediately.

The residents of Nelson Mandela Bay deserve to know how decisions are made that impact taxpayers’ money and service delivery.

The DA remains in your corner, fighting for you. Together, we can rescue Nelson Mandela Bay.

Regards

Cllr Mxolisi Breakfast
DA NMB Caucus Spokesperson

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This author is a 'catch-all' for occasional articles and letters written to MyPE. The Author of each article can be found in the signature at the bottom of each individual article.