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Julia Madibogo, a senior entertainment journalist at City Press, has opened a case of harassment and violation of the Protection of Personal Information Act against influencer and media personality Faith Nketsi-Njilo.
The case, opened at the Midrand police station, emanated from a story that was written by Madibogo about the reality TV star’s rumoured pregnancy and was published in last week’s Sunday edition of the newspaper.
READ: Lobola and a baby on the way for Faith?
The Midrand police station said it would confirm the case number after it is done processing other cases, as it was experiencing a backlog on its system.
Nketsi-Njilo took to Instagram on the Sunday the article was published by posting a screenshot of a WhatsApp message she received from Madibogo asking her to confirm the rumours. The screenshot displayed Madibogo’s personal number, which resulted in Nketsi-Njilo’s fans harassing Madibogo online.
In the post, Nketsi-Njilo said: “I actually never said anything to @city_press.”
“The following Monday, around 9am, I started receiving calls from tons of foreign numbers I did not know,” Madibogo said.
She was alerted that her personal number had been published on Nketsi-Njilo’s Instagram.
“I quickly checked Instagram and saw that she posted my cellphone number to her 2.4 million followers and that is why I got those calls.
She left my number on her Instagram account for the whole day.”
Madibogo said she tried to reach out to Nketsi-Njilo and her manager to take down the post, but they did not respond.
“What is problematic for me is the fact that the cell number is linked to everything else about me, so she essentially compromised my safety and refused to delete the number when I asked her to.”
City Press political editor Rapule Tabane said:
Tabane said Madibogo was abused, intimidated and called names for merely doing her job.
“There are platforms for people who feel aggrieved by our stories, such as the Press Ombuds, which should be used. We hope the law will take its course and that this should be a lesson to many others who resort to this behaviour.”
Sanef condemns Nketsi-Njilo’s actions
Meanwhile, Reggy Moalusi, executive director of the SA National Editor’s Forum, said the organisation condemns any harassment of journalists.
“Cyberbullying is a form of harassment, particularly against women journalists. We are encouraged to hear Julia has opened a case and City Press is looking at its legal options.”
Moalusi stressed that journalists must be allowed to do their jobs and not be threatened Those who are unhappy with their work must approach the Press Ombuds instead.
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