On Thursday, 10 November, national spokesperson Pule Mabe did an about-turn and said, “We regret any confusion caused and wish to clarify the organisation’s position on this matter.  

“We have no intention of charging a fee for media coverage of the conference. We intend to approach the media coverage of the conference the same way we have done in the past,” he said in a statement.  

The statement follows public outcry over the ruling party’s intention to charge the media for space – which was communicated by Mabe to journalists at the Nasrec conference venue in Johannesburg on Wednesday, during a media walkabout.   

Read in Daily Maverick: 

www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2022-11-09-cash-strapped-anc-wants-media-to-pay-to-cover-its-elective-conference/ 

At the walkabout, Mabe indicated that for the first time, the party would expect the media to pay to cover the conference as it battles space constraints, owing to high volumes of media personnel attending its conferences, among other factors.   

Although he did not reveal how much the media would be expected to cough up, he said a figure would be decided after packages had been put together by the end of the week.   

Asked for further clarity about this on the day, he confirmed that a monetary fee would be placed for space purposes and told Daily Maverick that “discussing money has never been an easy thing, but we will visit your media houses with the full details.”

 In the Thursday statement however, Mabe said, “The ANC will continue engaging the media as we build up towards the conference. We will endeavour to resolve any challenges that may arise as best as we can.

“The media is a very important partner in ensuring that we give access to proceedings at the conference to a much broader audience,” said Mabe.  

The statement received public backlash, with the EFF warning against the media and particularly the public broadcaster possibly buying space to cover the conference using taxpayers money.   

“All entities of the SABC, be it broadcast, radio or print, must not pay a single cent to attend or cover the ANC conference. Their financial demands to cover their elective conference must categorised as greed and tantamount to censorship, particularly for media houses that will not afford to buy space at the conference venue,” said national spokesperson Sinawo Tambo.

 Financial obligations

The South African National Editors’ Forum had said earlier that it would quiz the party about media coverage costs, News24 reported.  

 Daily Maverick also reported that, although the party had struggled to meet its financial obligations, including paying staff salaries on time, it was not looking at making a profit through media payment.  

ANC Treasurer General Cde Paul Mashatile during a site inspection at Nasrec on 9 November in Johannesburg. (Photo by Gallo Images/Luba Lesolle)

At the Wednesday briefing, Mabe had said: “The ANC is not looking to profit from this exercise, but we want to accommodate everyone – we don’t want you complaining about water, we want to make sure that all of your requirements are met.”     

“We will do our best to make sure that we accommodate your requirements, like we have always done in the past. If the exercise succeeds, it then allows me to create a bigger space for the media. In the last policy conference we had over 300 journalists here, so if we don’t meet each other halfway, it will be difficult.”  

Mabe revealed that the party had received more than 500 applications from the media to cover the conference, and said this was associated with high costs. 

“The idea is not to close anyone out but to make sure that it works for everyone, even the lowest denominator,” he said. DM