15 April 2009

Some are just above the media, above the law...

Zuma ‘obliged’ to sue Guardian
THE legal department of the UK’s The GUARDIAN told The Times that it is aware of Jacob Zuma’s pending lawsuit against the newspaper.

The newspaper has removed the column Zuma claims is defamatory from its website.
In the column, Simon Jenkins described the ANC president as a “polygamous, leopard skin-draped Zulu boss” who is “just another African crony politician for whom power is not about government, but personal enrichment”.
Liesl Göttert, who has been Zuma’s spokesman in connection with his defamation lawsuits, said Zuma objected most to Jenkins writing that a friend of Jenkins had said God was “about to give us a criminal and a rapist as president”.
Zuma was found not guilty after being charged with rape in 2006.
He is demanding an apology and damages — the amount has not been specified — from the paper and has appointed a London law firm to act on his behalf.
Zuma said yesterday : “The media should report accurately and honestly. How can they be allowed to damage a person’s reputation in this way? I was obliged to act where I had been wronged.”
The Guardian said: “We confirm we have been contacted by Schillings Lawyers, acting for Jacob Zuma, regarding the article by Simon Jenkins . It would be inappropriate for us to comment further at this stage.”


The Times

I am sorry, but I have to, yet again, disagree. Yes, the media should report accurately and honestly on NEWS, but columns are opinion pieces, and should reflect, accurately and honestly, the opinion of the people. And Simon Jenkins communicated the opinion of the people quite accurately.

The reality is that, in a week from today, we will be going to the polls in a pointless election, because, come hell or high water, Jacob Zuma, a suspected rapist and morally corrupt human being, will be our next president, and nothing is going to change that.

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