DA questions R6m spent on The New Age

The Democratic Alliance said the office of the Northern Cape premier “needs to come clean” on why it spent R6-million on The New Age newspaper.

“To spend R6 million in a year‚ you must spend R500 000 in a month‚” the DA’s provincial leader‚ Andrew Louw‚ said.

“How many subscriptions‚ adverts‚ tenders and backdoor deals do you need to total R500 000 a month?”

The DA’s statement follows the tabling of the annual performance plan for 2015/16‚ which‚ the party said‚ confirms a report carried in the Diamond Fields Advertiser last year that premier’s office is spending R500 000 a month on The New Age.

The New Age is owned by the Gupta family‚ which has close times with President Jacob Zuma and his family.

“It is interesting to note that the Northern Cape edition of The New Age reports on every single ANC event while coverage of the opposition is sparse at best‚” said Louw.

“Every newspaper has the right to decide for itself what is considered newsworthy and what isn’t. But R6-million can probably buy a lot of newsworthiness.”

According to Louw‚ the director-general claimed The New Age is the most widely read paper in the province‚ but AMPS figures show a readership of only 153 000.

“That might be impressive if it was the readership in the Northern Cape‚ but that is its readership nationally‚ said Louw‚ adding that‚ by comparison‚ the Volksblad has a readership of 123 000 and the Diamond Fields Advertiser 81 000.