Poetic Licence

Let’s start with the short answer: we don’t believe Kenny Kunene’s “young journalist” exists, at least not as a journalist. There may very well have been a person with Kunene at the Sandton property where DJ Sumbody's alleged killer was arrested. But calling that person a journalist is like calling a man with a camera a filmmaker. It's not about proximity, it's about credibility, process, and proof. This is the kind of story that builds careers. A major political figure, linked to a high-profile arrest, drops a bombshell explanation: I wasn’t there on shady business. I was there with a journalist. That should be the scoop of a lifetime for any young reporter. Front page, byline, doors opening across the newsroom universe. But instead, silence.

No name. No article. No byline. No LinkedIn profile. No Twitter thread. No blurry selfie outside the compound. No grainy footage of cops, cuffs, or chaos. Just a politician's word and a vague description; “fresh from varsity.” We’re told this rising star is being “protected.” But from what? If the story is true, and the young man is a journalist, this moment should launch him. This is how reputations are made, not destroyed. If he witnessed the arrest, had Kunene by his side, and was simply doing his job, where’s the damage?

Unless, of course, the damage isn’t to him. It’s to the story. Maybe he’s a friend, an assistant, a bystander retrofitted into a convenient alibi. Perhaps that’s the new internship model: no press card, no byline, no editor, no newsroom. Just you and Kenny Kunene at a crime scene. He has to be kept anonymous for the credibility of Kunene’s explanation. And the outlet? African News Global (ANG), a ghost of a newsroom. Fewer than ten articles in over a year. Most stories unsigned, attributed only to “ANG Reporter.” No masthead.

No editor’s note. Just a tip-off email and an air of smoke and mirrors. If you’re 23, on your first major assignment, and you witness a moment that could shape national debate, why wouldn’t you publish? Why wouldn’t you shout from the digital rooftops that you were there? Unless, of course, you weren’t. Or you weren’t meant to be seen. Even the Patriotic Alliance’s spokesperson, Steve Motale, himself a former journalist, refused to name the supposed scribe, citing protection of the young man’s reputation. But that’s not how journalism works. You protect sources, not journalists. You launch journalists. You boast about your talent. You don’t bury them in silence.

Kenny Kunene’s “young journalist” is a convenient ghost. A narrative shield. A mythical bystander designed to explain away a politician’s presence at the home of a murder suspect. Not a real journalist. Not a real story. Just a character in the PA's spin. For more political analysis and commentary in vernacular, join the conversation on Rabbie’s YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/c/RabbieWrote?sub_confirmation=1