Parliament, Wednesday 8 February 2017 - Secretary to Parliament Mr Gengezi Mgidlana met the Executive Committee of the Parliament Gallery Association (PGA) and the South African National Editors Forum (SANEF), to iron out misunderstandings in the period leading up to the State of the Nation Address on Thursday 9 February.
Mr Mgidlana convened the urgent meeting with the leadership of the PGA and SANEF at 18:00 yesterday, following a series of articles and a media briefing where journalists expressed concerns about allegations of security arrangements that wouldinhibit their work of reporting on the State of the Nation Address. These allegations had been rejected by the Parliament of South Africa at various points which included a media conference of the Secretary to Parliament last week, a rebuttal statement and a media conference held on 7 February. Despite the reassurances by the administrative and political leadership of Parliament, media expressed apprehensions about a briefing allegedly done by Parliamentary Protection Services.
...