Cape Town - Zindzi Mandela has expressed gratitude to former Daily Maverick contributor Modibe Modiba, who has accused the publication of paying him and other students to smear targeted politicians and business people including Sekunjalo chairman Dr Iqbal Survé.
She thanked Modiba for speaking out against media propaganda in defence of her and others who are "supposed to be silenced, frustrated and tarnished".
On Wednesday, in a series of shocking revelations on Twitter, Modiba - a Unisa International Relations student - accused the Daily Maverick of paying him and other students weekly stipends of R500 to write and do negative tweets about Survé, former Public Investment Corporation (PIC) chief executive Dan Matjila and some senior EFF and ANC leaders, including Julius Malema and Floyd Shivambu.
Modiba said the publication had asked him twice to write about Survé and conduct a research project and included his name.
He took to Twitter again on Thursday and further revealed that the Daily Maverick refused to publish his article in which he had defended Zindzi, former president Nelson Mandela and Winnie Madikizela-Mandela's daughter.
In his tweets, he slated the publication for not publishing his articles that were seen to be pro Zindzi Mandela when she was being attacked for her seemingly close relationship with the Economic Freedom Fighters.
"Why did you have a problem when i wrote an article defending @ZindziMandela? And people were beginning to write and speak negatively about her for her close relationship with the @EFFSouthAfrica. Here's the email below of the article i wrote but you
refused to publish? WHY?" Modiba asked.
%%%twitter https://twitter.com/ZindziMandela?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ZindziMandela? And people were beginning to write and speak negatively about her for her close relationship with the @EFFSouthAfrica. Here's the email below of the article i wrote but you refused to publish? WHY? https://t.co/a7ekqPivr4 pic.twitter.com/srRNGVZNwD
— Modibe Modiba (@mmodiba10)
Zindzi in turn said: "I owe you an apology Cde Modibe as I'm seeing this article for the first time. My gratitude to you is therefore long overdue. You speak on behalf of so many of us who are supposed to be silenced, frustrated and tarnished. #AlutaNeverthelessContinua #VictoryIsCertain"
%%%twitter https://twitter.com/hashtag/AlutaNeverthelessContinua?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AlutaNeverthelessContinua #VictoryIsCertain https://t.co/CYSuTfPJFJ
— Zindzi Mandela (@ZindziMandela)
Commenting on Wednesday's allegations, print media union Information Communication Technology Union (ICTU), said Modiba's revelations about Daily Maverick pointed to moral decay and the erosion of journalistic ethics.
“This moronic strategy and tactics proves that Daily Maverick is in essence an agent provocateur which serves the interest of the racists and neo liberal proponents whose main agenda is to fight back hard and dirty to stifle progressive socio-political discourse of the country by publishing a sponsored narrow narrative. In actual fact it continues to be a shame to mention Daily Maverick and media house in the same sentence, they should be called out for exactly what they are A THIRD FORCE masquerading as a media house," said ICTU’s media officer, Thabang Mothelo .
He further called out the "suspicious" relationship between SANEF and the Daily Maverick and by extension, eNCA.
“Their cozy and seemingly dastardly relationship was exposed when the EFF refused to give certain media houses accreditation. A right they defended. It is a shame that SIM (Sekunjalo Independent Media), AYO, Dr Dan Matjila, Dr Iqbal Survé, the EFF, some members if the ANC had to be attacked and vilified through a poisonous pen of the Daily Maverick. ICTU will therefore write to the Press Ombudsman to investigate the claims and make a deterrent determination which may include the permanent closure of the Daily Maverick,” Mothelo said.