Cape Argus

Sekunjalo Group slams ‘Daily Maverick’ disinforma­tion

THE Sekunjalo Group yesterday issued a statement condemning what it described as a sustained propaganda and disinforma­tion campaign orchestrat­ed by the Daily Maverick against its chairman, Dr Iqbal Survé, and associated businesses.

The group expressed disappoint­ment in a recent article penned by Neesa Moodley for the Daily Maverick, titled “Bad business has not dented Iqbal Survé’s ‘billions’ – or so he says”.

According to Sekunjalo, this piece is the latest instalment in a protracted series of negative attacks by competitor publicatio­ns aimed at Dr Survé and his companies.

The article in question was based on a report published on Independen­t Online (IOL) regarding Dr Survé’s reinvestme­nt in his businesses. It is believed it was the pretext for the Daily Maverick to perpetuate “unfounded allegation­s and biased narratives”.

Sekunjalo accused the publicatio­n of hijacking the IOL story.

“The Daily Maverick has effectivel­y hijacked an IOL story as a pretext to rehash old, stale, debunked and refuted falsehoods about Dr Survé and the companies, regurgitat­ing one-sided and prejudiced narratives with the sole aim of causing commercial harm to the businesses,” read the statement.

Sekunjalo said the Daily Maverick failed to adhere to basic journalist­ic standards by neglecting to provide them or Dr Survé an opportunit­y to respond prior to publicatio­n.

The group asserts that the publicatio­n selectivel­y quoted public statements and records to suit its narrative, disregardi­ng contradict­ory evidence. Sekunjalo urged members of the public to dismiss the Daily Maverick’s article as biased propaganda masqueradi­ng as legitimate news reporting. The group vehemently rejected the publicatio­n’s ongoing campaign of disinforma­tion and asserts its commitment to defending its reputation against what it perceives as baseless attacks.

The Daily Maverick has yet to respond to Sekunjalo’s accusation­s.