The Presidency is surprised and concerned by the utterances of the group of South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) journalists called the "SABC 8", who have objected to a recent stakeholder meeting that took place between the Acting Head of News at the SABC and the Presidency.
The Spokesperson of the President, Dr Bongani Ngqulunga, met with the Acting Group Executive News, Mr Kenneth Makatees and National TV News Editor and then Acting Head of TV News, Mr Nyana Molete at the request of the SABC team. The meeting was not secret. The Presidency holds similar meetings with many journalists routinely in the day to day functions of information gathering and dissemination by the journalists. Such consultative meetings actually take place routinely between journalists from various media houses and communication professionals in the public and private sectors.
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