Herewith an article from Tuesday's Lowvelder:
It is a rehash of SanParks' media release, combined with the mention of my initial post on 25 January here.
The concerning things are as follows: Firstly, I never mentioned Shingwedzi at all, not even my sources did. In fact I specifically publically mentioned Skukuza to draw attention away, as my sources are not there, assuming SANParks would pick up on the fact that Skukuza was never evacuated. They did not pick up, and I had to send them more hints to that effect.
Many places were evacuated, not only Shingwedzi...one can even read SANParks' own releases and updates. The point is, if Shingwedzi HAD been the source of the information, staff or evacuators there could now be under suspicion as whistleblowers...and this is a deadly situation to be in!
I regard this as a serious mistake on SANParks' part, leaping to their own conclusions, and starting their own "wild goose chase". My post was intended to get SP serious about looking at security and access control in all staff villages, and I am withdrawing nothing and AW management supports this view.
Secondly, it makes little sense for SANParks' to attack OSCAP after they used our info. Perhaps they prefer to use their legal department to intimidate individuals only, for the moment? In my opinion this aggressive response will lessen the chance of whistleblowers coming forward, not improve them.
Thirdly it is of concern that the newspaper chose to run a story like this more than a week after of SANParks' announcement...in fact they were aware of the story before that.
Some say that Lowvelder may be in a difficult position, as they print the SANParks Times, and their Media group, Caxton, entered into an agreement regarding cooperation with SANParks regarding various local projects. However, I have always had a good relationship with Lowvelder, trusting the integrity of the editor, and prefer to see it as an attempt to give a fuller background including the origin of the story, confirming AW as the source, which is fair enough!
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