NEWSWATCH: City Press editor Ferial Haffajee must be breathing a sigh of relief - or not - if she read the News24 report to the effect that Limpopo premier Cassel Mathale regretted his call for her head. Meanwhile, after a bit of ducking and diving, the SABC on the weekend aired the ruling handed down to it after its shoddy handling of the Mail & Guardian/Sam Sole issue.
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News24: Mathale retracts call for Haffajee to quit... What's this? A politician expressing regret for a sad case of what Prince Philip calls "dentopedology" - the science of opening your mouth to change feet? And let's face it, old Phil should know after all the times he's put his foot in it. But back to SA... Apparently, Limpopo premier Cassel Mathale has retracted his call for City Press editor Ferial Haffajee (ferialhaffajee) to resign. As his spokesperson Phuti Mosomane puts it: "The office reiterates its call for intolerance of inaccurate reporting, however it regrets its call for the editor of City Press to resign and as such retracts that part of the statement". But it's still really serious about the other part, then.
Mail & Guardian: SABC brought to heel: BCCSA ruling to air at 7pm tonight... Finally the SABC board saw sense, even if it seems that the managers concerned at the national broadcaster had a little trouble doing likewise. Result... Last Saturday night, 25 June 2011 at 7pm, our national broadcaster actually aired the BCCSA ruling over the M&G/Sam Sole/Robert Gumede issue. Newspaper editor Nic Dawes says a lekker little "Sorry" would be nice, but hey, you take what you can get, right?