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The many reasons that ANC's Nceba Faku wants to burn down The Herald

27 May 2011

Though South Africans have become accustomed to irrational, knee-jerk and often dangerous rhetoric from politicians of all persuasions, the ANC's regional boss in the volatile Eastern Cape metro of Nelson Mandela Bay (Port Elizabeth), Nceba Faku's apparent recent call to commit arson transcends most. It has now emerged that Faku, a former mayor, may have good reasons to want to see The Herald in ashes.

...[A]t an ANC victory rally, less than 24 hours after news of Hammerl's death surfaced, Nelson Mandela Bay ANC chairman Nceba Faku attempted to incite supporters to burn down the offices of The Herald, one of the country's elder and most respected newspapers. Standing in front of the Port Elizabeth City Hall, only a few hundred meters from The Herald's office, the former PE mayor reportedly told the gathered crowd: "Burn Herald, burn; pasop [beware] Herald, pasop!" and "We'll fight bullet with bullet".

This was according to journalists working for The Herald and the Cape Argus, which both ran stories on Friday about Faku's comments. They reported there were between 100 and 400 ANC members and supporters, who cheered when Faku not only threatened to torch The Herald, but said black citizens that vote for "white parties" should go "to the sea, or to Europe".

...Faku was mayor of Port Elizabeth between 1994 and 2006, and has been mired in controversy in the city for some months now, if not longer.

Read the full analysis on www.thedailymaverick.co.za.

See also:

Business Day: Matter of time before ANC's press hatred sparks arson? by Raymond Louw

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Source: Daily Maverick

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Michelle Solomon

About Michelle Solomon

Michelle Solomon is doing her masters in journalism and media studies at Rhodes University in Grahamstown, Eastern Cape, where she also works as a freelance researcher and journalist. When she's not out sniffing for stories, she takes a particular interest in research about media ethics and self-regulation. Follow her on Twitter at @mishsolomon.