The case against two e.tv journalists subpoenaed by police was postponed indefinitely in the Johannesburg Magistrate's Court on 25 January 2010, pending mediation between e.tv lawyers, the South African National Editors' Forum (SANEF) and the police.
eNews Editor Ben Said and Reporter Mpho Lakaje were subpoenaed under Section 205 of the Criminal Procedure Act to reveal their sources. The journalists had been subpoenaed by the police to give information on two suspected criminals they interviewed. Said and Lakaje could not reveal the identity, addresses and contact details of the alleged criminals they interviewed. They also did not give prosecutors the unedited footage of the interview, aired on 16 January 2010.
Those interviewed had threatened to commit crimes against foreign fans during the soccer World Cup. One of the suspected criminals had since been arrested and was also due to appear in the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court on Monday. “It’s not about a simple matter of freedom of expression… I said to e.tv from the beginning, we don’t want your source, we want your criminals… and they didn’t give us their criminals,” said Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa in a radio interview earlier on 25 January 2010.
“Somebody must tell us what comes first, is it the safety of South Africans? We have a constitutional obligation, we think that freedom of expression in itself is not absolute and it can’t be absolute at the expense of safety and security in the country,” added the minister.