Tributes don’t mention that his firm was cited by the SIU as a beneficiary of state capture-related malfeasance
04 July 2025 - 05:00
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There is much to be said for the adage of not speaking ill of the dead, but the media has a societal responsibility that supersedes niceties.
Having read five tributes to Dick Foxton, including two in your publication, it is striking that none mentioned that Foxton’s company was cited by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) as a beneficiary of state capture-related malfeasance (“Salute to Dick and the Foxton charm package”, June 24, and “Fare thee well, Foxton”, July 2).
Specifically, that it received a R1.2m tender irregularly awarded to provide public relations consulting services to controversial SABC CEO Hlaudi Motsoeneng.
This was only revealed publicly thanks to a parliamentary process. Strangely, many media outlets and editors who have otherwise loudly called for accountability for state capture were silent on that revelation.
That Foxton then married the former public protector who produced the original “State of Capture” report merely added further intrigue.
Since the last parliamentary mention of the Foxton Communications matter in 2019 I often wondered why the purportedly robust, anti-corruption media failed to provide updates on those SIU cases.
A reasonable reading of recent tributes provides a possible answer: Foxton had so many editors at his beck and call that it was a given that their publications would never report negatively on him. None of which does much for media credibility.
Dr Seán Mfundza Muller Johannesburg
JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Send us an email with your comments to letters@businesslive.co.za. Letters of more than 200 words may be edited for length. Anonymous correspondence will not be published. Writers should include a daytime telephone number.
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
LETTER: Media was silent on Foxton revelation
Tributes don’t mention that his firm was cited by the SIU as a beneficiary of state capture-related malfeasance
There is much to be said for the adage of not speaking ill of the dead, but the media has a societal responsibility that supersedes niceties.
Having read five tributes to Dick Foxton, including two in your publication, it is striking that none mentioned that Foxton’s company was cited by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) as a beneficiary of state capture-related malfeasance (“Salute to Dick and the Foxton charm package”, June 24, and “Fare thee well, Foxton”, July 2).
Specifically, that it received a R1.2m tender irregularly awarded to provide public relations consulting services to controversial SABC CEO Hlaudi Motsoeneng.
This was only revealed publicly thanks to a parliamentary process. Strangely, many media outlets and editors who have otherwise loudly called for accountability for state capture were silent on that revelation.
That Foxton then married the former public protector who produced the original “State of Capture” report merely added further intrigue.
Since the last parliamentary mention of the Foxton Communications matter in 2019 I often wondered why the purportedly robust, anti-corruption media failed to provide updates on those SIU cases.
A reasonable reading of recent tributes provides a possible answer: Foxton had so many editors at his beck and call that it was a given that their publications would never report negatively on him. None of which does much for media credibility.
Dr Seán Mfundza Muller
Johannesburg
JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Send us an email with your comments to letters@businesslive.co.za. Letters of more than 200 words may be edited for length. Anonymous correspondence will not be published. Writers should include a daytime telephone number.
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