Comrades,
I still repeat, The Minister of the Department of International Relations and
Co-Operation’s (Dirco) is a liability both to Africa and South Africa
Communist regards,
Lesetja Diphoko
"Sent via my BlackBerry"
-----Original Message-----
From: matankana mothapo <[email protected]>
Sender: [email protected]
Date: Fri, 20 May 2011 21:16:28
To: <[email protected]>
Reply-To: [email protected]
Subject: [YCLSA Discussion] Government slated over Hammerl
Government slated over Hammerl As the death of Anton Hammerl filters
through South Africa, questions are being asked about how his death was
concealed for over 6 weeks
NICKOLAUS BAUER & DES LATHAM
Published: 2011/05/20 01:36:05 PM
Analysts are questioning the Department of International Relations and
Co-Operation’s (Dirco) ability to look after South Africans abroad in the
aftermath of photographer Anton Hammerl’s death.
Hammerl was confirmed was confirmed dead on Friday after going missing in
Libya in April.
The photographer had been covering the civil conflict in the country and
was presumed to be held by pro-Gaddafi forces.
This notion was supported by Dirco minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, who
claimed she had news, on good authority that Hammerl was alive and in
captivity.
It has since been established Hammerl died as a result of gun shot wounds
sustained on April 5th.
American journalists Clare Morgana Gillis and James Foley, and Spanish
photographer Manuel Brabu, were with Hammerl when he was shot in the stomach
in the desert near Brega.
"Our minister has got some serious explaining to do. She claims he was
alive and well when she clearly did not know that. She brutally misled the
South African public and Anton Hammerl’s family," Professor Anton Harber of
the School of Journalism at the University of Witwatersrand told Business
Day.
Following his death, Dirco said the Libyan government lied to South
Africa about Hammerl.
"We kept getting reassured at the highest level that he was alive until
his colleagues were released and shared the information yesterday
(Thursday)," she told reporters in Pretoria on Friday.
"We are disappointed that we were not informed by Libyan authorities, but
from the journalists who were with him."
This seems to have been accepted by the South African National Press
Club, whose chairman Yusuf Abramjee told Business Day the body was satisfied
the government did all in its power to locate and return Hammerl back to
South Africa.
"We accept the explanation that they did everything in their power to find
out what happened to him. We hope that this serves as a warning not to
believe what the Libyan government tells them," Abramjee said.
Human Rights Watch emergencies Director Peter Bouckaert has disputed
the statement issued by government that over the past 44 days it had done
all it could to determine what happened to Hammerl.
He has told Business Day that the Americans and Austrians were doing all
the ground-work in Tripoli, and that South African officials were noticeably
absent.
"Part of the problem was the lack of action by the South African
government, this is worrying," Bouckaert told Business Day. "When I was
interviewed on SABC Radio and criticised President Jacob Zuma for not
bringing up Hammerl’s disappearance when he met Gaddafi, I was suddenly cut
off," said Bouckaert.
The Communication Workers Union (CWU) has also issued a statement calling
for a full investigation into the mater by Dirco.
"As CWU, we condemn the killing of Hammerl and the continued onslaught on
protesters by Gaddafi’s forces in Lybia. We call on the South African’s
International Relations Minister to sanction an investigation into the
circumstances leading to the arrest and the subsequent killing of Anton
Hammerl."
Renowned South African conflict photographer Gerg Marinovich also added
his voice to the chorus of discontent with the South African government.
"This is what happens in war-zones, people die and journalists are not
exempt from that but the manner in which it happened is tragic and gory. The
government took the word of the Libyans at face value, he wasn’t a priority
for the South African government - he was nothing," Marinovich said.
[email protected]
- Hammerl killed in
Libya<http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/Content.aspx?id=143300>
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