President Jacob Zuma has "secretly" toured the studios of the new Gupta-owned 24-hour news channel, 48 hours before it hits the airwaves. President Jacob Zuma has "secretly" toured the studios of the new Gupta-owned 24-hour news channel, 48 hours before it hits the airwaves.
President Jacob Zuma has “secretly” toured the studios of the new Gupta-owned 24-hour news channel, 48 hours before it hits the airwaves.
He spent about an hour at The New Age’s Midrand headquarters on Monday, where he met Atul Gupta and other executives and editors.
The visit – unusually not made public by the Presidency or the ANC – has raised fears that Zuma is endorsing the privately owned news channel.
According to well-placed sources, he visited the state-of- the-art studios of Africa News Network7 (ANN7), scheduled to go live on Wednesday on Multi-Choice’s DStv channel 405.
Sources said several senior ANC leaders, including two national executive committee members and at least one cabinet minister, visited The New Age’s headquarters this month alone.
ANN7 has apparently committed itself to focus on “constructive, nation-building stories in the interests of building a culture of unity and pride in South Africa”.
The channel is owned by the powerful Gupta family, who are linked to Zuma and his family.
The Gupta brothers are business partners of Zuma’s son Duduzane and also employ some of the president’s family.
Gupta family spokesman Gary Naidoo failed to respond to written questions.
Zuma’s spokesman, Mac Maharaj, on Tuesday confirmed the visit, saying that was part of the president’s drive to “promote relations and understanding” with the media.