Cape Town - Nedbank came under fire after it barred a senior Independent Media journalist from an event it had invited her to attend.
Business Report journalist Dieketseng Maleke has complained about her apparent snub after she was told she was no longer welcome at on Monday’s Nedbank event “In Conversation With Mark Rose”.
Rose is the bank’s head of strategy and new business development.
Nedbank and Independent Media shareholder, the Sekunjalo Group of Companies, are in the midst of a legal battle over its arbitrary closure of the group’s bank accounts.
Last week, the Competition Tribunal ruled in favour of Sekunjalo against Nedbank, Absa, First Rand, Sasfin, Access Bank, Standard Bank, Mercantile, Bidvest and Investec, ordering the reopening of accounts that had already been shut.
Nedbank has also been interdicted by the Equality Court to keep Sekunjalo’s accounts open. The outcome of its appeal against the interdict is pending.
In her complaint, Maleke said she received an invite from Nedbank about Rose’s event. “I RSVP’d and all seemed fine until they called me this morning saying that their team decided that the event won’t be suitable for me to cover … They offered a one-on-one instead of attending the event,” she said.
Business Report editor Adri Senekal de Wet took up the matter with Nedbank CEO Mike Brown.
In an email to her, Brown said: “There seems to be a misunderstanding; we have chatted to our agency and they offered a ‘catch up lunch’ with Mark Rose to (BR content editor) Philippa (Larkin) because they had a relationship with her.
“When Philippa said she couldn’t make it, they offered her a one-on-one with Mark to make sure she didn’t miss out. No other news publication was offered this, it was specifically because they enjoy working with Philippa and wanted to make sure her scheduling wouldn’t be the reason that she didn’t get to chat to Mark.
“If Dieketseng would like to take up either (the one-on-one with Mark or attend the lunch) she is welcome to.”
Senekal de Wet said Nedbank’s behaviour went against the spirit of media freedom.
“As executive editor of Business Report, I am shocked at the manner in which Nedbank treated a senior Business Report reporter, Dieketseng Maleke. The excuses I received from Nedbank are not acceptable.
“Dieketseng received a call out of the blue this morning, from Nedbank, saying ‘it will not be suitable for her to attend the Nedbank event’ after she received an email from Nedbank last week ‘that they are looking forward to meeting her’.”
Independent Media editor-in-chief Aziz Hartley said: “The excuses offered are unacceptable and we find this kind of behaviour unbecoming, unprofessional and intolerable.
“There is no reason for Nedbank to behave in this manner, despite our differences. We want to urge Nedbank’s management to act responsibly and reconsider what is clearly another attempt to silence us.”
Nedbank spokesperson Annaleigh Vallie called the issue a “pure misunderstanding” and insisted the “journalist was not barred from the event.”