Sunday World published an online article on June 25 2023 titled: “Free State treasury head Sesing writes scathing letter to PSC.”
In response to treasury’s complaint to the Press Council, deputy press ombud Tyrone August found that the claim that head of department Masechaba Sesing had interfered with the appointment of a senior treasury official was not sufficient to label her “controversial”.
In addition, the article failed to record that the treasury considered the correspondence between Sesing and Public Service Commission (PSC) chairperson, Dr Somadoda Fikeni, to be “cordial” rather than “scathing”.
The treasury also disputed claims of collusion between Sesing and chief financial officer, Adri Botes, who the article alleged was not properly qualified for the post.
The treasury pointed out that Botes joined the provincial government from another department years before Sesing was appointed as head of treasury.
Treasury’s response omitted
Moreover, the article misrepresented the grounds for Sesing’s objection to the PSC investigation, referring to its status as an organ of state – whereas Sesing contested its jurisdiction.
The article also omitted the treasury’s response to a question specifically related to Sesing, depriving her the right to reply.
As a result, the published story has since been taken down from our website. Sunday World apologises to Sesing and the Free State treasury for these errors.
For the full finding, visit http://www.presscouncil.org.za/Ruling/View/department-of-treasury-free-state-vs-sunday-world-4675
