South Africa's ANC political party on Wednesday slammed the ANN7 (DStv 405) TV news channel for what it called "divisive" coverage, adding its voice to thousands of South Africans unhappy with the perceived slanted news coverage of the Gupta-news TV channel carried on MultiChoice's satellite pay-TV platform.
The ANC, in a strongly-worded statement, said ANN7 is sowing division.
It comes after ANN7 reported that the ANC deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa, secretary general Gwede Mantashe and treasurer general Zweli Mkhize allegedly pushed president Jacob Zuma to attend the Cosatu May Day rally in Bloemfontein where the president was publicly boo-ed and humiliatingly left.
Blasting ANN7 in a scathing statement - the ANC's first public and official criticism of ANN7 since the channel launched on DStv - the ANC said "such reportage is habitual and typical of ANN7, devoid of truth, divisive and designed to create an illusion of some 'ANC insider' status for the channel".
"Members of the media have a responsibility to report the news accurately, factually and objectively," says the ANC.
"ANN7, however, seems determined to manufacture false consensus, sharpening contradictions and deepening fissures in the ANC."
"The station effectively acts as a mouthpiece of the factional divisions that plague the ANC, consistently showing itself as being intent on driving wedges within the organisation and pitting comrade against comrade."
"We will not be distracted in this quest by narrow, self-serving interests whose motivations can only serve to further weaken the ANC."
A public petition calling for MultiChoice to remove ANN7 because DStv subscribers don't want to be forced to pay for it has now reached over 12 000 signatures and comments.
