NATIONAL NEWS - In a tweet at nearly midnight on Monday, investigative journalist Jacques Pauw said he had considered an appeal from the SA National Editors’ Forum and agreed to delete a tweet pointing out the estate at which EFF leader Julius Malema’s wife and children reside in Hyde Park.
He had posted the Google Earth satellite photo of the complex in relation to questions about how it was possible for the EFF leader to have self-confessed cigarette smuggler Adriano Mazzotti, apparently a longtime personal friend, as landlord to his family.
Pauw said he had not initially considered that there might be any risk to the Malemas of him doing so, since the northern Joburg complex was well guarded and secure, but he accepted Sanef’s view that it was wrong, and so he deleted the tweet. Twitter users, however, were quick to point out to Pauw that the damage was supposedly done and that the privacy of Malema’s family could not be restored by him deleting the image.
Pauw, however, defended the fact that he had earlier posted a photo of Malema with his infant son sitting next to Mazzotti, as this image had already been freely uploaded to Facebook and was in the public domain.
Malema has also in the past shared photos of himself with his young son.
The EFF on Monday voiced condemnation and disgust at the media over both issues, claiming they were being unfairly targeted.
“The EFF condemns in the strongest terms and with the disgust it deserves, the publication of CIC (commander in chief) Julius Malema’s family residence.
“In an attempt to discredit the leader of the EFF, media has published the residential address where his wife, the mother of two infant children, lives,” EFF spokesperson Mbuyiseni Ndlozi said.
Ndlozi said the reports compromised the security of Malema, as well as his wife and children.
