South Africa’s media defied a government warning and splashed pictures of President Zuma`s private home which is said to have been controversially revamped using millions of dollars of tax payers’ money.
State security Minister said on Thursday that media was prohibited from publishing pictures of President Zuma’s rural home saying it was violation of security laws.
“No one including those in media is allowed to take images and publicise the images, even pointing out where the possible security features could be,” said Minister Siyabonga Cwele.
“It was not done anywhere. We have not seen the images of the White House showing where the security features are. It is not done in any democracy,” he added.
SA media
Newspapers ignored the minister’s warning and on Friday splashed on the front pages with the pictures of President Zuma’s lavishly-refurbished rural homestead.
The Times had on its front page an Aerial picture of the thatched roof compound under headline ” So arrest us”.
The Star had a picture of the homestead with a red x imposed across it and captioned, “Look away! What ministers don’t want you to see”.
A media analyst said, the publishing of the pictures was necessary and signifies the role of the media as a watchdog for public expenditure.
“We believe it is of immense public interest to keep reporting this grotesque public expenditure of over R200 million on a residence of a sitting President,” he said.
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