Magwegwe Member of Parliament (MP) Honourable Anele Ndebele brought to the attention of the VMCZ Media Complaints Committee his complaint against NewsDay over an article carried by the newspaper on 26th June 2015 headlined, “They plotted to kill me: MP”.
Honourable Ndebele feels the story is part of machinations to tarnish his image and raised numerous points of complaint as outlined below:
· He questioned allegations by a source in the story, Mr Douglas Mwatse, that there was a court application for a peace order against him
· Hon Ndebele says Mr Douglas Mwatse, is not a member of the MDC-T Magwegwe District as reported in the paper
· He also questioned that if indeed Mwatse was beaten up by “thugs” ‘allegedly linked to him (Ndebele)’ why was he then being held liable for other people’s actions. He said the matter is before the courts and if the newspaper had investigated the matter, it would have verified that he was not cited as a respondent in the matter.
· Hon Ndebele said the ‘so-called thugs’ who allegedly beat up Mr Mwatse were the elected district organizer and youth chairperson for the district. Hon Ndebele said the two had gone to verify whether Mwatse had indeed convened a party meeting at his house in defiance of a party directive to suspend such meetings, so as to give precedence to Pumula/ Luveve by-elections
He therefore expressed hope that the letter to the editor he has written would “assist in clearing misconceptions” about him and defeat any efforts to tarnish his image.
Status: Resolved
NewsDay published Hon Ndebele’s letter in full in the newspaper a day after the newspaper was contacted. Honourable Ndebele says the publication of his side of the story was adequate to address his grievances.
Hon Ndebele states that he is happy with the way professional manner his complaint was handled by NewsDay.
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