Clifford Mohloana, a member of the ANC Youth League, will appear before the Polokwane Magistrate’s Court for assaulting a journalist over the weekend. The journo, a freelancer named Chester Makana, suffered a blow to his head with a brick, allegedly brandished by Clifford. This is absolutely not ideal for anyone hoping to mend the ANCYL’s already shaky relations with the media.
At the time of the assault, Makana was in a photocopying shop investigating allegations of duplicate voting tags being printed on the premises, in the lead-up to the League’s provincial elective conference. After hitting him with the brick, two men including Mohloana grabbed Makana’s camera and broke the memory stick before exiting the store.
Media like The Sowetan have drawn a comparison between this incident and apartheid-era attacks on journalists.
The case will be heard on 11 January.
[Source: Times Live]
