The Press Ombudsman has directed News24 to apologise to Minister of Sports Gayton McKenzie over an article about his R800,000 trip to the Olympics held in Paris, France.
The ruling was made after Mckenzie though his Special adviser, Charles Cilliers, lodged a complaint at the Press Council over an article titled: Send me! McKenzie's gravy train to Paris Olympics cost taxpayers R800, 000.
The article written by News24's Parliament reporter, Jan Gerber was published on October 14, 2024, two months after the games were completed.
The article started by recapping what Mckenzie said on X when he assumed office as a Minister.
Despite this pledge, the publication said that more than R800,000 was spent on McKenzie's first official trip, including on items which he later described as “exorbitant” and “very steep”.
The article reported that his responses to Parliamentary questions, revealed that a staggering R1.8 million was spent by the department on McKenzie and his support team — more than R1.3 million previously spent on superfans.
According to the report, McKenzie told Parliament that eight officials, including himself, went to France.
"A total estimated budget of R1.805 335.74 was approved by the minister for officials travelling to the Olympics,'' read the article.
Mckenzie was further cited saying 146 athletes attended.
"This means, on average, around R191,000 was budgeted per athlete, including their support staff, compared to the R1.8 million for McKenzie and his officials. In fact, McKenzie's flights cost more than the average spend per athlete," said the article.
It was estimated that each athlete spent between R18,000 and R30,000 for their flight.
Meanwhile, the R800,000 spent on Mckenzie is said to have included his flight which was over R200,000, his ground transport was R454,005, his accommodation was R113,271, and travel allowance was R20,745.72.
In his complaint, McKenzie said he was aggrieved by the headline saying it caused unnecessary harm by describing his trip to the Olympics as a “gravy train” and added that the Cambridge Dictionary defines a “gravy train” as “a way of making money quickly, easily, and often dishonestly”.
He argued that it was problematic to suggest that being part of an official trip that costs a lot of money means being on a “gravy train” and said that was unacceptable to insinuate that there was something unethical, dishonest and self-serving about the trip.
He also took particular offence to the word “Send me!” and denied that he uttered those words as the trip was part of government commitments that predated his appointment.
Her further objected to comparing the costs incurred by 'superfans, who attended a different set of sporting events, to what it cost to fly him to the Olympics. He argued that this implies that he somehow decided to replace the 'superfans' with himself.
Regarding the number of people he travelled with, McKenzie said the article was incorrect in stating he was in Paris with eight people at a cost of more than R1.8 million. He said that only one support staff member travelled with him during the trip and that was his private and appointments secretary, Marilise Francis.
He said he would have been in breach of the Ministerial Handbook if he had travelled with eight members of his support team as the Handbook allows only two ministerial support team members to travel with him on official trips abroad.
He admitted that five of the department’s officials were, in fact, in Paris on completely independent travel with the task of setting up and managing the Ekhaya Gardens facility at the Olympics. He said that the decisions around that project predated his term and were signed off by the previous Minister.
He said it was 'mischievous' to compare the cost of his and the officials’ travel to Paris with what it cost per athlete when it is common cause that athletes are accommodated at the Olympic Village at no cost. He added that such allowances are not made for government officials.
He said News24 failed to approach the Ministry or the department for comment or clarity on any of the matters they reported on.
In closing, he requested that the article be updated with a headline that was more accurate and less suggestive that he was “some sort of gravy-train riding reprobate”.
He wanted a correction to reflect that he did not have eight support staff with him; and the article should clarify that the accommodation of the athletes at the Olympic Village was free.
He also wanted the ombudsman to direct News24 to apologise for the unnecessary harm it has caused, “particularly for the headline, but the article as a whole”.
In response, News24 submitted that the complaint was without merit and should be dismissed because, firstly, the article touches on a matter of public interest, namely how public money is spent and, secondly, that it provides details of questions put to the complainant during a session of the Sports, Arts and Culture Portfolio Committee.
With regard to the headline, the publication stated that the phrase “Send me” has become synonymous with President Cyril Ramaphosa’s administration since his first State of the Nation Address (SONA) in February 2018 and he's now a member of Ramaphosa's administration.
However, the phrase was not attributed to him because no quotation marks were used.
The publication went on to argue that the phrase “gravy train” is commonly used in the media throughout the world in relation to the “expensive perks” that public officials enjoy at taxpayers’ expense.
News24 also said that nowhere does in the article state that McKenzie was in Paris with an eight-person support team. The publication said the term “support team” was only used in the summary of the article without mentioning any figure.
The publication said Mckenzie might have misled Parliament if he now claims that News24 incorrectly reported that “eight officials, including himself, went” to the Olympics.
Moreover, it argued that the issue was not whether a Minister should travel abroad; it acknowledges that this is part of the job. The issue, it said, was the “exorbitant” and “very steep” costs, and not using money “where it is needed the most”.
In conclusion, News24 said article was not the cause of any harm to the Minister, however, it is in the public interest to know how public money is used by officials, including Ministers.
In the findings, the deputy Press Ombud said News24 breached Clause 1.2 by (a) creating the erroneous impression that R1.8 million was spent on “McKenzie and his support team” whereas this amount was spent on all eight officials who were at the games and (b) failing to mention that SA athletes were accommodated free of charge in the Olympic Village during the Games.
For this breach, News24 is required to publish an apology to McKenzie.
Secondly, the publication was ordered to update the summary at the top of the article to make it clear that R1.8 million was not spent on the Minister and his support team, but on all eight officials who were at the Olympics.
"It must also update the article to include the information that the athletes were accommodated in the Olympic Village at no cost," said the deputy Press Ombud.
The publication is also required to publish an apology to Mckenzie for publishing a misleading headline in breach of Clause 10.1, and the headline must be updated accordingly.
These apologies and updates should:
- be published online, on News24’s landing page for three days and on all platforms where the article was published;
- be published with a headline including the words “apology” and “Minister McKenzie” (or a suitable alternative);
- refer to the complaint that was lodged with this office;
- end with the sentence, “Visit presscouncil.org.zafor the full finding”;
- be published with the logo of the Press Council; and be approved by the deputy Press Ombud.
Lastly, it was said the updated article should publish a note under the headline: “NOTE: This article has been updated after a finding by the deputy Press Ombud. See EDITOR’S NOTE below.” The “EDITOR’S NOTE: Update and apology to Minister McKenzie” should state when and how the article has been updated.
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