Name calling Makgoe apologizes for Ndaba’s attack on City Press journalist

The apology to City Press journalist; Yoliswa Sobuswa, by the Free State Department of Education MEC Tate Makgoe, as a media statement by Free State Publishers and Editors Forum is not well received on this side of the equator.

This follows a series of media statements by FSPEF asking media houses to boycott the department after Sobuswa was allegedly attacked by Free State Department of Education spokesperson Howard Ndaba.

According to FSPEF Sobuswa was working on a story and accused Ndaba of not cooperating, and that was her sin as she ended up being threatened by the spokesperson.

“Ndaba opted to pit the roll of insults, even threatening the journalist that she can go report him to President Ramaphosa, and there is nothing she can do to him.

This diabolic behavior demonstrated by Ndaba, is nothing but a spit on the journalist’s faces and the entire journalism fraternity.

The FSPEF deplore attacks made by Ndaba and calls on all media platforms both local and national to immediately stop covering the Free State Department of Educations Events until they discipline their hubristic and discourteous official”, reads the statement released on 16 November 2022.

A day later the FSPEF released another statement welcoming the swift response made by Makgoe.

“As a forum, we had a meeting with MEC Makgoe and other parties involved trying to find common ground and understanding on what transpired.

We can confirm that the department has taken full responsibility and apologized to Ms. Sobuswa.

The MEC and department agreed that the situation of this nature will never happen again’ reads the statement.

That’s rich coming from the department considering they requested a meeting with this publication following our story in which we reported how MEC Makgoe’s son told EXCO that he is not scared of them.

https://stepupsanews.co.za/2022/06/29/ha-ke-le-tshabe-nna-mecs-son-tells-exco/

The meeting attended by both parties ended on high we thought, only for the same Makgoe who is today apologizing to Sobuwa to call the Step UP journalist a “stupid journalist” in a WhatsApp group of Cyril Ramaphosa’s supporters after one of the members reposted the same article about his son.

We received the next few minutes after he commented and shared it with his officials who attended the meeting with him and this is how Nbada responded to the comment by his boss.

“Ignore this Chris u saw the MEC was even crying because of this story. It has hurt him big time.”

He has not cried, he will cry until he apologizes.

If we had called Makgoe “a stupid MEC” we would have been called names but it was the mighty and untouchable Makgoe and its business as usual.

Makgoe still has to explain how Patuma Guest House is getting business from his department

We are not saying what Ndaba did is right, we just find the whole situation as a pot calling the kettle.

In other news, Paul Mashatile and Nomvula Mokonyane are dealing with branch thieves in
Free State.

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