The Press Ombudsman has found that the publication by The Sunday Independent newspaper and IOL of an abusive opinion piece has caused ‘severe harm’ to the personal and professional reputation of News24 journalist Karyn Maughan, and that the publications should apologise and remove the piece.

In a judgment by deputy ombudsman Franz Krüger, assisted by Professor Karthy Govender and veteran journalist Joe Thloloe, the panel found that The Sunday Independent and IOL transgressed three clauses of the Press Code.

This includes the failure to meet the requirements for protected comment in clause 7.2, and breaching clause 3.3 as well as clause 2.1.

The panel reiterated that comment and free speech should be defended and that while criticism and comment could be robust, it should be fair and based on fact.

News24 laid the complaint against The Sunday Independent after a column was published in the newspaper and online by IOL, written by a contributor identifying himself as Edmond Phiri, comparing Maughan to a Nazi propagandist and an apartheid operative.

The author offered no evidence of this.

The panel also found the following:

* The Sunday Independent should have taken ‘some consideration’ to the tone of the Phiri piece, given ‘the toxic environment women journalists encounter online’;

* The panel was ‘particularly concerned’ by an X post by Iqbal Survé, the proprietor of The Sunday Independent and IOL, ‘calling Maughan a dog and using violent imagery’, and called it ‘unacceptable’;

* The voice of the corporate owners of The Sunday Independent and IOL ‘comes through very clearly in social media posts’ and they have presented corporate views as news; and

* Phiri, The Sunday Independent and IOL overstepped the mark from legitimate criticism to engage in ‘abuse’.

Full News24 report

Full ruling