04 August 2020

ATT : THE PRESS COUNCIL OMBUDSMAN

RE: LETTER OF COMPLAINT AGAINST MISLEADING ARTICLE IN THE WITNESS

The South African Muslim Network (SAMNET) identified a rather misleading photograph featured in an article on the front page of The Witness Newspaper online on the 4th August 2020.

HEADLINE: ‘Alarm Raised At ‘Disproportionate’ Covid Deaths Among Sa Muslims.’

We would like to point out the following:
1. The picture featured is not from South Africa, as we do not have crowds like the one displayed in this photograph.
2. This is a pre-corona picture that shows people in mass without PPE and standing shoulder-to-shoulder.

The picture is completely misleading and gives the impression that this is what the Muslim community is doing in violation of the laws and social distancing. It gives the impression that the Muslim Community could be a source of a Covid 19 epidemic, literally. In an atmosphere of ISLAMOPHOBIA and viral transmission of photographs and fake news, this maligning picture can lead to increasing Islamophobia. We think that this is disingenuous and that is grossly misrepresenting the community and the circumstances of something as sacred as the Eid Prayer. It would have been very easy for the newspaper and the author to contact Muslim Organizations for comment on and to get an appropriate picture. There are numerous organizations, even in Pietermaritzburg, that could have been asked for an appropriate picture that is current in Covid conditions.

We believe that The Witness should have a full front-page apology as this is such a gross violation by the author (Niyanta Singh) and they deserve to be fined and sanctioned so a clear example is made for them not to have a picture that is so damning. Furthermore, the article gives the impression that this view is widely held by the community, when in fact, it was a view expressed in a closed Zoom meeting within a small circle of participants and that in itself is misleading in the article.

Kind Regards
Dr F.Suliman
SAMNET