PICTURE: YOUTUBE Leader of the EFF Julius Malema’s tirade against The New Age newspaper and ANN7 television station, during which he said journalists from the two organisations were banned from covering EFF media conferences, was a direct attack on media freedom and must be taken seriously by the media and others.Malema threatened ominously that the safety of the journalists could not be guaranteed if they did not heed his call, but later said they would not be harmed. Nevertheless, the High Court in Pretoria granted an urgent interdict on Tuesday, preventing the EFF from inciting violence against the companies’ shareholders, employees or property.Malema made wild accusations, claiming the organisations were "propaganda machinery" and their owners, the Gupta family, were running corrupt businesses — serious allegations with no evidence provided to back them up.Sure, there are suspicions that the Guptas have undue influence over President Jacob Zuma, and these should be explored dili...

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