Members of the elite Scorpions police unit raided media houses across the country yesterday after the director of public prosecutions ordered the confiscation of material relating to the activities of Pagad. Armed with serach warrants, invstigators seized material from the SA Broadcasting Corporation, the foreign agencies Associated Press and Reuters, and other companies. This included all material relevant to the August 1996 killing of Cape Town gangster Rashaad Staggie. Sipho Ngwema spokesperson for public prosecutions director Bulelani Ngcuka said prosecutors had been negotiating unsuccessfully with the various media groups to release the archive material since 1996. "Unfortunately they would not co-operate and we had no option but to obtain warrants and do our jobs. The video material would assist the courts in the effective prosecution of criminal offences.

Acting head of communications at the SABC Tango Lamani said the SABC roundly condemned the raid."We can't be expected to do the work of the police. The SABC's independence was severely compromised by the raid". Lamani said the SABC had strong views about the interference with its journalistic activities and management will take a long and hard but calm look at the matter.

The South African National Editors' Forum criticised the raids saying that the seizures were a "fragrant violation of the letter and the spirit of a deal between Sanef, the ministers of justice and of safety and security, and the national director of public prosecutions reached in February last year. The deal was struck after prosecutors subpoenaed journalists in terms of section 205 of the Criminal Procedure Act o surrender photographs and video footage of Staggie's mob killing. Sanef said in terms of the agreement, the prosecuting authority was supposed to advise the media person who is served with a subpoena or a warrant of search for documents or other evidence needed in a prosecution. Sanef called on Ngcuka to avoid confrontation with the media, to return the confiscated material and to stick to the agreements reached. FXI drew the attention of the National Director of Public Prosecutions and the government that a more inappropriate day to raid the papers could not have been chosen.

"October 19 is Press Freedom Day and commemorates the raids conducted by the previous government on newspapers in 1977 when numerous journalists were imprisoned without trial or banned and newspapers closed down. These raids will be taken all over the world as a signal that the SA government has adopted the practices of the previous government in its relations with the media and that it is not prepared to uphold and maintain the Constitutional right of freedom of expression and freedom of the media. The media has stated time and again that by demanding sources or information about criminal acts which the media believes will compromise it the authorities are attacking the integrity of the media and seriously inhibiting it in carrying out its duty to report freely and without fear or favour," FXI said.

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