by Thinus Ferreira
South Africa's eNCA (DStv 403) TV news channel will do on-the-ground coverage again of the country's EFF political party after a 5-year blackout, starting with this weekend's national people's assembly gathering set to take place at Nasrec in Johannesburg.
eMedia's eNCA stopped giving any physical coverage of the Economic Freedom Fighters party 5 years ago after eNCA decided to pull out of the EFF's national people's assembly gathering in 2019, after EFF leader Julius Malema called an eNCA reporter "a stupid journalist" after asking a question.
eNCA also said it's exiting from EFF coverage since the political party banned news media like The Daily Maverick, amaBhungane and Scorpio from its conference in 2019.
Since then, for the past 5 years, eNCA has not tried to cover and report on EFF-related on-the-ground news. Although eNCA kept reporting on the EFF, it has not actively attended any EFF events or actively done coverage or interviews with the political party.
In a statement on Thursday the EFF says "Following the fallout when eNCA pulled out of the 2nd national people's assembly in 2019, eNCA and the EFF have started a new chapter".
"eNCA acknowledges that the decision to pull out was unfortunate. Furthermore, both parties acknowledge it took longer than it was necessary to resolve the impasse."
"eNCA and the EFF recognise the vital role the media and political entities play in deepening democracy."
THe EFF says "Moving forward, both parties have affirmed their shared commitment to fostering an environment of mutual respect and collaboration. We will work together in a manner that prioritises transparency, accountability and the public interest."
eMedia and eNCA haven't issued any statement on Thursday or explained anything about the reconciliation with the EFF party from the TV news channel's side.
