Two wrongs don't make a right in Bees Roux story

Imagine the media frenzy if a Manchester United player was arrested for the murder of a bobby on the beat. And in the Bees Roux saga, we have a similar sensation that will grip and divide our nation in the coming months.

Last week Google said his name was the fastest rising search topic in South Africa, according to the Mail & Guardian, and the story has even made the international press. If by the slimmest of chances, you haven't heard people talking about it or read about it, here's what's happened. In the early hours of a Friday morning two weeks ago, Roux was stopped in his car by police officers in Pretoria who suspected he might be a drunk driver. Roux allegedly assaulted one of the officers, Sergeant Ntshimane Johannes Mohale, and by the time paramedics arrived, Mohale had died.

Bees story, journalism heaven

Quite frankly, this story is made in journalism heaven. Not only do we have a player nicknamed "Bees" from the country's most popular rugby franchise, the Blue Bulls, charged with the murder of a policemen but it appears that Mohale was killed allegedly with Roux's bare hands. And because this is South Africa it will become charged with racial sensitivities: the police officer was black while Roux is the quintessential rugby-playing Afrikaner: a 120kg giant from the far-flung Northern Cape.

In addition, Roux has a good legal team who will know how to fight a criminal case - and influence the media to best effect - and already all sorts of peculiar questions are surfacing: why, for instance, did the other policemen not see the assault and what's with the man who allegedly went on a spending spree with Roux's credit card shortly after the alleged assault? Then there's the owner of the strip club - picturesquely called the Flamingo at which Roux was - or possibly not before the assault - who has told the media that Pretoria's finest were in the habit of blackmailing his clients when they emerged from his club. Lastly, Mogale appears to have been under three separate internal investigations by the police before his death.

Breaching journalistic ethics

It's a compelling story and the public will follow it with great interest but is the public interest such that the media was justified in naming Roux on the Friday and weekend before he appeared in court on Monday? Especially at a time when our ethics are under scrutiny by the ANC as they look to limit press freedom through a proposed state-appointed media tribunal and the Protection of Information Bill.

Although news reporters can get confused by the rules, most news editors and editors know how it works - and if they don't, they should do a spot of brushing up. In this instance, this is the important bit:

You run the risk of a judge slapping you with contempt of court - or a defamation lawsuit from the individual concerned - if you name someone who has been arrested before he or she has appeared in court for the first time. This is usually the point at which you stand up in the court and are told: "Ms Gillian Lesley Moodie, you are charged with murder and drunk driving". With sexual offences, the media cannot name the individual until they have entered a plea.

This may seem pedantic but the point is that even though you may be arrested on a charge, the prosecutor may decide there is not enough evidence to pursue it. If this comes to pass, it's totally unfair to have your name splashed about in the media, casting doubt on your reputation.

Public interest - exception to the rule

The chief exception to the rule is if there is compelling public interest in revealing the identity of the person arrested, for example, in the arrests a few years back of South African Judge Siraj Desai in India and then Deputy President Jacob Zuma, both on rape charges. In these two cases, both men were public officials whose salaries were paid by tax payers, which immediately opens their lives to public scrutiny. In addition, a High Court judge must pronounce on the integrity of people in court cases and is, therefore, rightly expected to be of high moral character. Politicians often admonish the public to live good moral lives and Zuma in particular got a lot of political mileage out of being a key figure in the Moral Regeneration Movement. Lastly, both politicians and judges are in a position to influence investigations and prosecutions of crime so it's really best for all that it come out as fast as possible.

Now let's have a look at Bees Roux: he's a professional sportsman in the employ of a private company and did not enjoy - nor invite - the celebrity status that a rugby star such as Joost van der Westhuizen did before his sex-and-drugs video scandal of last year. It's pretty obvious it was not in the public interest in naming him before his first court appearance on the Monday though almost everybody did except, it seems, for RSG that said on air on the weekend after the arrest that the radio station had taken a decision not to do so. Doubtless, the arrest of a Blue Bulls rugby players would have been of enormous interest to RSG's Afrikaans listeners but the station played it by the book. (Unfortunately, RSG did not respond to requests for an interview on the thinking behind their rather unique decision.)

Using playground wisdom

Of course, Roux's name was out there so fast - first on rugby websites such as Keo.co.za and Planet Rugby and then all over Twitter. Such is the socially-networked world we live in. And it appears it was the Blue Bulls themselves that put out a statement about Roux that alerted the likes of Keo.co.za to this big breaking story so, all in all, I'd say the media could get away with naming him.

I do hope, however, that during the weekend after Roux was named, much thought and discussion in editors' conferences took place - and that next time the caution shown by RSG will be recalled by all.

This could just as easily have gone badly wrong. Had Roux not been charged, many an ardent rugby fan would have taken a very dim view of the media's conduct - at a time when the state and the ANC are looking for reasons to turn popular opinion against the media. Playground wisdom teaches us that if your friend jumps into the fire, there's no need you should too. It also teaches us that two wrongs don't make a right.

About Gill Moodie: @grubstreetSA

Gill Moodie (@grubstreetSA) is a freelance journalist, media commentator and the publisher of Grubstreet (www.grubstreet.co.za). She worked in the print industry in South Africa for titles such as the Sunday Times and Business Day, and in the UK for Guinness Publishing, before striking out on her own. Email Gill at az.oc.teertsburg@llig and follow her on Twitter at @grubstreetSA.
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