March and March leader Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma faces a letter of demand from News24 after she shared a journalist’s phone number online. Image credit News24
News24 editor in chief Adriaan Basson has accused March and March leader Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma of being directly responsible for death threats against one of his journalists. The Ngobese-Zuma journalist threats row has now drawn in the South African National Editors’ Forum, which describes her actions as doxxing.
On Thursday night, Basson posted on X that Ngobese-Zuma is directly responsible for the death threats against News24 journalist Khaya Koko. He added that News24 will hold her responsible and will not leave a stone unturned to make sure the rule of law is upheld. He also stressed that she is not above the law.
How the Ngobese-Zuma journalist threats began
The dispute started with a WhatsApp message. Koko, an investigative journalist, contacted Ngobese-Zuma for comment on government contracts linked to her and her husband, Xolani Zuma.
Instead of replying to him directly, Ngobese-Zuma shared a screenshot of his message on Facebook. The screenshot showed his personal cellphone number. In her caption, she accused him of trying to distract her supporters with lies. She also challenged News24 to write whatever it liked, as long as it could prove it.
Soon afterwards, Koko began receiving a flood of hostile calls and messages. According to Sanef, he received more than 100 of them. In one message, the sender said they would hunt him down and make an example of him. Another sender called him names, accused him of pushing a paid agenda and wished him dead. News24 later reported more threats, including one that told Koko to say his final prayer.
Ngobese-Zuma later edited the post to crop out the phone number. However, by then the number had already spread.
As a result, News24 has served Ngobese-Zuma with a letter of demand. The publication wants her to remove the post, apologise to Koko and promise not to publish his personal information again. It argues that the threats may amount to criminal conduct and that they violate Koko’s rights to privacy, dignity and safety.
Meanwhile, Sanef called on Ngobese-Zuma and her supporters to stop intimidating journalists. The forum said Koko had followed the Press Code, which requires journalists to give people a fair chance to respond before publication. Sanef described the exposure of his number as deliberate doxxing aimed at chilling a legitimate investigation.
Furthermore, the forum urged anyone unhappy with media coverage to approach the Press Council or the Broadcasting Complaints Commission instead of turning to harassment. It warned that democracy cannot work properly unless journalists can report freely, fairly and safely.
So far, Ngobese-Zuma has not publicly responded to the letter of demand or to Basson’s post.
The row comes in the same week that Ngobese-Zuma reported threats against her own life. On Tuesday, she opened a criminal case at Durban Central police station against a man she says made rape and death threats against her on Facebook. The ANC and the South African Human Rights Commission both condemned those threats. In addition, March and March spokesperson Sandile Dube called the post unacceptable and said the man must face the consequences in court.
Basson’s post spread quickly. It drew more than 280 000 views and thousands of replies within hours. Among those who replied was MP Andile Mngxitama, who told Basson that he was fighting South Africans and would not win. Mngxitama also told him to go ask his uncle PW Botha.
Commentary across social media platforms remains sharply divided. Some users backed Ngobese-Zuma and accused News24 of targeting her. Others argued that sharing a journalist’s private number puts lives at risk, regardless of the story.
Ngobese-Zuma leads March and March, a movement that has campaigned against illegal immigration. Her profile has grown sharply this year, and she has drawn both strong support and fierce criticism.
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