Johannesburg - “As they say in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.”
Iqbal Survé, chairman of the Sekunjalo group, rolled up his sleeves and dived into a Twitter war on Sunday after critics speculated about the editorial implications of his consortium’s R2-billion purchase of Independent News and Media.
In reaction to a series of opinion pieces published in papers belonging to Times Media Group (formerly Avusa) implying that Survé’s links to the ANC and personal politics would censor Independent content, the media mogul accused Times Media of hypocrisy and racism.
“How dare u accuse the Sekunjalo consortium of bias (we have not even taken over yet?) and u appoint a DA Gary van Onselen to your team,” Survé tweeted on Sunday as part of a long salvo at Times Media.
“What right do they have to have sole ownership of all news and pretend that they are not biased - the great fraud perpetuated on our country”.
“Africa’s march to media freedom and democracy will not be stopped by self-appointed supremacist parading as liberals, who have clear agendas”.
“Unfortunately for Avusa and others, they are dealing with a fearless, intelligent, well resourced black man - their worst nightmare come true,” tweeted the qualified medical doctor.
The one piece in particular that had provoked Survé’s Twitter spat was Business Times editor Rob Rose’s column talking about what Rose called Survé’s lack of transparency over Sekunjalo’s shareholders, published in the Sunday Times on Sunday.
In his column, Rose quoted Wits journalism professor Anton Harber as noting: “It is impossible to take a view on his purchase if we don’t know who is involved or how it is being funded.”
Sekunjalo was leading a R2bn buyout of INMSA, which owned print titles such as The Star, The Cape Times, and Isolezwe.
Last week, it emerged that the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF) would be funding part of the R2bn to the tune of R500 million.
The GEPF had a 19.5 percent stake in TMG.
According to Business Day, former president Nelson Mandela's grandson Mandla and prominent businessman Sandile Zungu were shareholders in Sekunjalo.
The current Irish owners of Independent News and Media will vote on Sekunjalo’s offer on June 17.
On Monday, Business Day reported that Times Media defended itself against Survé’s criticism with TMG CEO Andrew Bonamour calling his tweets unfair.
“To stand on a public platform to slate us like that is not fair. Even journalists who don't work for us have asked questions about the funding for the Independent sale. But he's welcome to sit with us and see the progress we have made on transformation,” said Bonamour.
The Star, Sapa