22 October 2024, Sipho Tshabalala,
The controversy started with an opinion piece written by Edmond Phiri titled “Is Karyn Maughan South Africa’s Leni Riefenstahl – the Nazi Film Propagandist?”. It drew the ire of Karyn Maughan, News24, and Media Monitoring Africa (MMA), all of whom lodged complaints with the PCSA. The council’s response was swift and disproportionate, demanding retractions, public apologies, and even the replacement of the article with an official PCSA statement. Independent Media sought to appeal this heavy-handed approach but found itself up against a deeply entrenched bias within the council.