ANTON HARBER|
SOUTH African journalism organisations this week rallied around well-known journalist Karyn Maughan when former president Jacob Zuma initiated a private prosecution against her.
Zuma faces 16 counts of corruption for taking a monthly payment of US$34,000 from French arms firm Thales while he was deputy president from 1999 and later president from 2009 to 2018. Thales was involved in South Africa’s massive arms purchase deal during that period.
Zuma had originally laid charges against the prosecutor in his corruption case, Billy Downer, for giving a medical certificate from the investigation to Maughan. When the police declined to prosecute Downer, Zuma initiated a case against both him and Maughan for disclosing the information.
Zuma’s supporters jumped on Maughan on social media, lashing her – with some racist and misogynist language – for allegedly exposing Zuma’s medical records.
But the South African National Editors’ Forum expressed “disgust” at the serving of summons on Maughan.
It was “a clear case of
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