South Africa’s Zuma, responding to international concern, says media freedom not threatened

S. Africa’s Zuma assures media on press freedoms

JOHANNESBURG — South Africa’s president says international news agencies and media rights groups should not fear that press freedom is under attack by his government.

President Jacob Zuma issued a statement Friday in response to letters he has received from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse, Bloomberg, Reuters, the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers and other groups.

Zuma’s African National Congress has proposed a tribunal that could discipline journalists. The party also put forth legislation under which reporters could be jailed for publishing information that officials want kept secret.

Zuma’s statement says he “wishes to assure the media groupings that government remains fully committed to media freedom as enshrined in the constitution.”