OFFENDED FIGHTER
SA's first black media baron? I don't think so ...
Mzwanele Manyi, the new owner of media outlets ANN7 and The New Age, says he will be unapologetic about asking for advertising from government to promote radical economic transformation
Mzwanele Manyi, former government spindoctor and champion of the phrase "white monopoly capital", claims he should be celebrated for being the first African media owner in SA. Last week, Manyi said he would be buying television channel ANN7 and The New Age newspaper for R450m from the much criticised Gupta family. It sparked accusations that he would be fronting for the family and intends using the platform for propaganda in defence of government. But in an interview with the Financial Mail, Manyi said he was mightily offended by such claims. "If anybody thinks I’m fronting, I’m challenging them to take me to court — simple as that. Or else I’ll sue them for defamation, because they’re calling me a criminal." He says that during his time in government he was part of the team that developed broad-based empowerment rules — including advocating the criminalisation of fronting.The Rhodes Must Fall movement, he says, triggered his shift in consciousness. "They pushed me over the cliff, t...
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