UPDATE: Renowned journalist threatened outside his home after anti-Gupta articles
Editor at large of the Tiso Black Star media group Peter Bruce has been threatened at his home in Parkview‚ Johannesburg‚ by Black First Land First‚ which demanded that he start writing about the “wrongdoing” of white monopoly capital.
A group of about 20 BFLF members gathered outside his home on Thursday holding placards. They also wrote “land or death” on his roller door.
The BFLF members hurled insults at him and also threatened him to immediately pack his bags and go back to Europe‚ saying they want to occupy his home which they claimed has been built on stolen land.
“He is selective when he writes his opinion piece. He does not write what is truthful‚ factual and he doesn’t investigate. He just writes what is in his racist mind and we don’t accept that as black people and also as the BFLF movement‚” said Thandiswa Yaphi‚ treasurer of the organisation.
“We are saying there are so many stories out there that he should be running that have potential and are good for the nation. He’s not writing about the mining charter‚ and the Absa‚ he’s only writing about thugs that implicate black people as being corrupt and pushing a narrative that black people are the ones that are corrupting this country while we know that people like Johann Rupert (business tycoon)‚ Maria Ramos (Absa CEO)‚” said Yaphi.
This was in reference to Public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane’s recommendations that government take legal action to recover misappropriated public funds unlawfully given to Absa Bank in the amount of R1.125bn.
Mkhwebane made this finding concerning Absa on its role in the purchase of Bankorp in 1992.
In January‚ a leaked provisional report from the Public Protector’s office recommended that Absa pay R2.25-billion to the fiscus for an unlawful apartheid-era bank bailout.
However‚ Bruce said he tries by all means to be factual and selective in his opinion pieces.
“When I write‚ I try to write reasonably and constructively about things that affect our country and I’m not going to stop because of this demonstration. I am not threatened at all but I think some of my neighbours and my wife too might be‚” said Bruce.
He said he had no doubt that the protest could be linked to an opinion piece in Business Day on Thursday in which he wrote that he was targeted by the Gupta family for writing critical articles about them.
Bruce is editor-at-large at Tiso Blackstar Group‚ formerly Tiso Blackstar‚ which owns TimesLIVE.