The South African National Editors’ Forum (SANEF) has condemned suspended CEO of the Industrial Development Trust (IDT) Tebogo Malaka’s alleged attempt to bribe the Daily Maverick investigative journalist, Pieter-Louis Myburgh.

Malaka and IDT spokesperson Phasha Makgolane allegedly offered Myburgh R60 000 to bury an investigation into alleged corruption. The clip of the meeting between Myburgh, Malaka and Makgolane was made public yesterday, causing outrage among South Africans.

Exclusive @dailymaverick video investigation live now! #IDT CEO Tebogo Malaka and spokesperson Phasha Makgolane brought R60k to a meeting with me, offered the cash to bury my investigation into an IDT contract. We were ready and got it all on video. Visit Daily Maverick’s site pic.twitter.com/VX1SChspba

— Pieter-Louis Myburgh (@PLMyburgh) August 6, 2025

SANEF’s Nicki Gules has called on journalists to report on such attempts.

Gules adds, “The ease with which this was arranged by the IDT people, how often has this happened before? When I was an investigative editor at City Press in the late 2010s, reporter Sipho Masondo was offered R5 million in a bribe to quash the Giyani Water Project investigation. Therefore, this has certainly been happening for a long time. We really need more people to come forward so we can stamp this practice out. And it does suggest to me that this is happening more frequently.”

[WATCH] Media ethics specialist, Professor George Claassen, says there should be immediate action against IDT officials implicated in an exposé by Daily Maverick. He says investigative journalist Pieter-Louis Myburgh should be praised for following the old journalist rule of… pic.twitter.com/pmXEbDRaHq

— SABC News (@SABCNews) August 6, 2025