Deon de Lange
Political Bureau
CITY Press editor Ferial Haffajee is to sue Sowetan columnist Eric Miyeni after he labelled her a “black snake in the grass” who would “probably have had a burning tyre around her neck” if this were the 1980s.
In his weekly column yesterday, Miyeni attacked Haffajee for her newspaper’s investigations into the finances of ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema.
City Press had reported that Malema was believed to be funding his lavish lifestyle through tender kickbacks payed into his Ratanang Family Trust by businessmen who benefited from state tenders.
Miyeni accused Haffajee of being “deployed by white capital to sow discord among blacks”, adding: “In the ‘80s she’d probably have had a burning tyre around her neck,” he said, referring to the gruesome fate that awaited those believed to be supporting or colluding with the apartheid government.
“And today we must believe that Haffajee’s utter hatred of ANC politicians is based on journalistic integrity.
“Quadruple crap. I am more inclined to think that people like Haffajee … are most likely to be the kind that wakes up in the morning, sees their black faces in the mirror only to feel a wave of self-hatred rising up to nauseate them.”
Miyeni suggested City Press had “manufactured” reports on Malema: “And let’s say Malema does have a family trust, that the trust is funded by black businesspeople and that these businesspeople made their fortune through government tenders, what the hell is wrong with all that?”
Haffajee said yesterday she had decided to take legal action against Miyeni because “turning the other cheek should not apply” when the public discourse was “polluted by racism, misogyny and hate speech”.
“If we don’t deal with racism, hate speech and misogyny, then we go down a slippery slope. This sullies our public space. We have to stand up against this,” she said.
She said a court process would give her an opportunity to hear “on what factual basis Mr Miyeni made these allegations”.
Haffajee had earlier tweeted that if she successfully sued for defamation she would put the proceeds into a bursary for “talented young opinionistas (columnists)”.
Miyeni wrote that government tenders were the “only real source of business” for black businesspeople since “it’s clear to everybody that white South African business is locking black people out”.
“Are we now told that if we make money though government contracts – our only hope – we cannot use that money to help fellow black people who are in politics, who need private funding to function? Where then should black politicians get financial support?
“The Haffajees of this racist world are not digging up any dirt on DA officials. Instead, they sickeningly presume that white fortune is legitimately earned until proven otherwise and that it’s the opposite for black success. To hell with Haffajee and her kind,” said Miyeni.
The controversial columnist and film-maker recently released a documentary, Mining for Change, which purports to provide historical justification for Malema’s mine nationalisation calls.
This is not the first time he has invited public outrage.
In a column last year, ostensibly about overweight citizens, Miyeni wrote: “Under all those layers of fat she now carries, (celebrated poet) Lebo Mashile is one of the most beautiful women I have ever met. I remember that when I first met her, the width of her entire body was the width of her one thigh today. She looked exquisite.”
Mashile responded by pointing out that the two were not friends andMiyeni had been fired twice from SAfm and was a misogynist.
“Aside from my generous hips and bottom, the quality of my work and reputation can sit on Eric, and their weight will crush him … Eric’s desperate and pathetic actions are indicative of someone who is looking for free publicity at my expense. This is his attempt to reignite a sagging career by emulating the schoolyard bully who teases the fat girl until she runs away crying. Sadly for him, I am not that chick,” she wrote.
The Sowetan has cancelled Miyeni’s column. Yesterday acting editor Len Maseko said Miyeni had “crossed the line between robust debate and the condonation of violence”, adding: “Avusa Media and the Sowetan newspaper are committed to free, fair and robust debate. Eric Miyeni expresses robust views shared by many South Africans. This is why he has continued writing a column in the Sowetan newspaper. However, the expression of these views should not be accompanied by the promotion or condonation of violence against those who hold differing views,” said Maseko.
The youth leage said last night it “agrees” with the offending column.
“We particularly applaud that Eric Miyeni says things as they are and exposes the ill-practices of the journalist he wrote about. Eric Miyeni should never be intimidated, nor demoralised by media commentators and mobs of reactionary media, because they will try to rubbish his thoughts, which he expressed openly.”