These hearings are largely due to ANC threats instituting a media appeals tribunal which would presumably be a statutory body to monitor the press and punish "offending" journalists and editors who, according to ANC spokesman Jackson Mthembu: "Don't contribute to the South Africa we want".
The Press Council's agreement to relook its self-regulation is widely credited for the ANC taking a supposedly "softened" position. But this could be a dangerous assumption for three reasons.
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