On Wednesday last week, we published the damning story of EFF Public Relations board member Thomas Menisey, who has been accused of attempting to extort R6m from a contractor building the Mpumalanga Parliamentary Village.
Mnesy was caught in a secret recording demanding payment from White Hazy Construction owner Saul Siwela. While he admitted asking for the money, he said it was for the benefit of the community.
After the story was published, Manisi sought to intimidate reporter Mandla Khoza, who wrote the article, by threatening his family. On Thursday, Khoza opened an intimidation case with the Mbombela police against Mnesi, who demanded that they meet and that Khoza publish a story in his favor by Friday.
Threatening a journalist and his family is unacceptable in a democracy, where freedom of the press is guaranteed by the constitution.
People who disagree with how this newspaper covers a story have several ways to express themselves, including approaching the press ombudsman.