Durban – The head of the Johannesburg division of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) is taking news broadcaster eNCA and presenter Karima Brown to task for deliberately assassinating his character by referring to him as part of the “Zuma cabal" and "a corrupt element within the NPA".
Advocate Andrew Chauke has since filed a complaint with the Broadcasting Complaints Commission of South Africa (BCCSA) asking it to hold the two accountable for the acts he deemed were aimed in tarnishing his good name and based on fabricated information.
He claimed that Brown, on different occasions, while on-air, called him one of the “rotten apples" and "corrupt officials" within the NPA.
In the leaked complaint filed on October 16, Chauke further alleged Brown not only peddled lies about him while presenting her Sunday show, The Fix, but also persisted with the lies when presented with facts.
Giving a chronology of how the campaign to vilify him started, Chauke said on August 16, Brown, while presenting her show, claimed he was behind the aborted attempt to prosecute former KZN Hawks boss, Johan Booysen.
“We have traced the trajectory of these inaccuracies, unfounded allegations and disparaging remarks against Adv Chauke by Ms Brown dating back from 16 August 2020, where she reported that Adv Chauke went after former KwaZulu-Natal Hawks Head, Johan Booysen when he in fact was not involved in that prosecution, except for being a co-ordinator. She further said that Adv Chauke failed to institute criminal proceedings against former MEC for Health in Gauteng, Mr Brian Hlongwa, saying that he is implicated in serious wrongdoing,” reads the complaint filed by Chauke.
He alleged Booysen’s matter was not the only Brown used to smear him as she even claimed he declined to prosecute the now-convicted former crime intelligence head, Richard Mdluli.
Chauke claims he demanded an apology and that led him to write to the producers of the show, John Bailey and Fose Segodi, raising concerns about Brown's conduct and bringing, to their attention, relevant facts and evidence.
“We received no joy or satisfaction from eNCA, despite numerous emails and telephone conversations between Adv Chauke and the producers, specifically Mr Segodi, who exacerbated the situation by allowing Ms Brown to publicly broadcast a private conversation between him and Adv Chauke, without his consent on 11 October 2020,” he submitted.
Closing his submission, he decried that when eNCA and Brown realised he was ready to field his spokesperson to dispute allegations in a show aired on October 11, they allegedly lied and said they could not get the NPA to offer its side of the story.
“To the contrary, Karima Brown and eNCA informed the viewers that they afforded the DPP the opportunity to respond which was refused by the DPP. This is dishonesty, aimed at further tarnishing the image of Adv Chauke and the Johannesburg NPA office. Proving that, the show was meant to go ahead without any right of reply,” he alleged and then pleaded with the BCCSA to penalise the two for breaching rules of fair reporting.
eNCA and Brown are yet to respond to queries sent to them by Independent Media on Thursday.
Political Bureau