Cape Town Press Club

{{Infobox organization

| name = Cape Town Press Club

| formation = {{start date and age|1975}}

| logo = Cape Town Press Club logo.png

| logo_size = 200px

| abbreviation = CTPC

| type = Press club

| location_city = Cape Town, South Africa

| leader_title = Chairpersons

| leader_name = Brent Meersman
Twanji Kalula

| leader_title2 = Secretary

| leader_name2 = Lalage Maurer

| website = {{URL|https://capetownpc.org.za/}}

}}

The Cape Town Press Club is the oldest press club in South Africa. Founded in 1975 as a voluntary association of journalists, it has since become a non-profit organisation supporting freedom of the press. It is based in Cape Town, South Africa and hosts public and private gatherings with invited speakers from public life.

The Press Club is a popular venue for speeches by South African politicians and also for speeches by prominent figures in academia and business. It has hosted all five post-apartheid South African presidents.{{Cite web |title=History and list of speakers |url=https://capetownpc.org.za/history-and-list-of-speakers/ |access-date=2024-07-03 |website=Cape Town Press Club |language=en-US}} Foreign visitors have included Dick Clark in 1977,{{Cite news |last=Lewis |first=Anthony |date=1977-01-10 |title=Carter's Agenda: Africa II |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1977/01/10/archives/carters-agenda-africa-ii.html |access-date=2024-07-03 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} David Aubrey Scott in 1977,{{Cite book |last=Sanders |first=James |url=https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9781136327209 |title=South Africa and the International Media, 1972-1979 |date=2012 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-136-32720-9 |edition= |pages=20 |language=en |doi=10.4324/9780203045039}} Jesse Jackson in 1990,{{Cite news |date=1990-02-13 |title=South Africa's New Era; The Lincoln Touch |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/02/13/world/south-africa-s-new-era-the-lincoln-touch.html |access-date=2024-07-03 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} David Blunkett in 2008,{{Cite web |date=2012-04-13 |title=Revealed: David Blunkett finds love again with a divorced GP who has two children |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/hp/front/revealed-david-blunkett-finds-love-again-with-a-divorced-gp-who-has-two-children-7272030.html |access-date=2024-07-03 |website=Evening Standard |language=en}} and Annie Lennox in 2013.{{Cite web |date=2013-05-02 |title=Lennox calls on SA to fight gender-based violence |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2013-05-02-lennox-calls-on-sa-to-fight-gender-based-violence/ |access-date=2024-07-03 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}} Since 2007 the Press Club has held the Barry Streek Memorial Lecture on an annual basis.

History

The oldest press club in South Africa,{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PUnMmfanRx4C |title=South Africa: Official Yearbook of the Republic of South Africa |date=1989 |publisher=Department of Foreign Affairs |isbn=978-0-7970-1729-0 |pages=688 |language=en}} the Cape Town Press Club was relaunched in 1975 after a period of stagnancy. The relaunch was pioneered by Cape Times journalist Tom Copeland and continued by his colleague John Scott. In later decades, Donwald Pressly played an important role in the club's maintenance.{{Cite web |last=Bhengu |first=Cebelihle |date=28 October 2022 |title='I'll be going to Anglican heaven soon': Tributes pour in for veteran journalist Donwald Pressly |url=https://www.news24.com/news24/southafrica/news/ill-be-going-to-anglican-heaven-soon-tributes-pour-in-for-veteran-journalist-donwald-pressly-20221028 |access-date=2024-07-03 |website=News24 |language=en-US}}

Because of its location in the legislative capital of Cape Town, the Press Club was historically dominated by parliamentary reporters, such as Pressly. Full membership in the club was available only to working journalists until the late 1990s, when a single category of membership was established for all interested parties regardless of profession. Nonetheless, on some accounts, a rival press club was established in Pretoria in 1978 due to dissatisfaction with the predominance of public relations professionals in the Cape Town club.{{Cite thesis |last=de Vente-Bijker |first=Tanya |title=A media historiographical investigation: Examining three aspects of a press club's history over four decades |date=December 2018 |access-date=3 July 2024 |degree=Master of Journalism |publisher=Stellenbosch University |url=https://scholar.sun.ac.za/server/api/core/bitstreams/d60f88e6-512d-492d-8d1c-555c011f853d/content |pages=48–52}}

The Press Club was formerly based at the Café Royal on Church Street in downtown Cape Town, but in the 21st century it has lacked a permanent venue. However, it frequently held events at the Kelvin Grove Club in Newlands, a venue sometimes regarded as the "colonial home of the Mother City's ageing gin-blossomed Wasp elite"{{Cite news |last=Donaldson |first=Andrew |date=11 February 2015 |title=Evita journeys to suburban heartland and declares war |url=https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2015-02-11-evita-journeys-to-suburban-heartland-and-declares-war/ |access-date=3 July 2024 |work=Sunday Times}} or "one of Cape Town's bastions of the privileged English liberal establishment".{{Cite news |date=13 September 2014 |title=Malema 'charms old money' |url=https://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/malema-charms-old-money-1750437 |access-date=3 July 2024 |work=IOL}} As a result, journalists teased the Press Club for drawing "a predominantly white, elderly audience including the city's media stalwarts who keep the Press Club alive".{{Cite web |last=Thamm |first=Marianne |date=2014-09-11 |title=Charm offensive: EFF commander-in-chief chats up old money |url=https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2014-09-11-charm-offensive-eff-commander-in-chief-chats-up-old-money/ |access-date=2024-07-03 |website=Daily Maverick |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Poplak |first=Richard |date=2014-09-15 |title=Sh*t the EFF will do: Charm your (white) grandma's pants off |url=https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2014-09-16-sht-the-eff-will-do-charm-your-white-grandmas-pants-off/ |access-date=2024-07-03 |website=Daily Maverick |language=en}}

As of 2012, the Press Club had over 500 members, including 133 businesspeople, 125 journalists, and 86 public relations professionals;{{Cite news |date=8 May 2012 |title=Press club not neutral ground, says ANC |url=https://www.sowetanlive.co.za/amp/news/2012-05-08-press-club-not-neutral-ground-says-anc/ |access-date=3 July 2024 |work=The Sowetan}} to cover its costs, it relied not on membership dues but on corporate sponsorship.{{Cite web |date=2012-05-08 |title=Actually we do have ANC members, says CT press club |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2012-05-08-actually-we-do-have-anc-members-says-ct-press-club/ |access-date=2024-07-03 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}

Scholarships

In December 2003, the Press Club awarded its first Cape Town Press Club Award for investigative journalism, intended to sponsor in-depth reporting on a story of the recipient's choice. The first award, worth R20,000 and sponsored by Telkom, was given to John Yeld, an environment writer for the Cape Argus, for reporting on property developments in the Western Cape.{{Cite news |date=15 December 2003 |title=Cape Argus writer scoops Press Club award |url=https://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/cape-argus-writer-scoops-press-club-award-119417 |access-date=3 July 2024 |work=IOL}}

After Press Club deputy chairperson Barry Streek died in 2006,{{Cite web |date=2006-07-21 |title=Journalist Barry Streek passes away |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2006-07-21-journalist-barry-streek-passes-away/ |access-date=2024-07-03 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}} the Press Club established the Barry Streek Memorial Bursary, an annual award of R20,000 to a journalism student. Its endowment is funded by donations and by ticket revenues from the Barry Streek Memorial Lecture, which has been held annually since 2007 {{See below|below}}.{{Cite web |title=Barry Streek Memorial Bursary |url=https://capetownpc.org.za/opportunities-for-journalists/barry-streek-memorial-bursary/ |access-date=2024-07-03 |website=Cape Town Press Club |language=en-US}}

Leadership

The Press Club Committee is elected annually. Its current co-chairpersons are Brent Meersman and Twanji Kalula.{{Cite web |title=The committee |url=https://capetownpc.org.za/the-committee/ |access-date=2024-07-03 |website=Cape Town Press Club |language=en-US}}

Notable events

In December 1972 at a mixed-race ball hosted by the Press Club, Zulu leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi danced with the white wife of journalist AI Venter, provoking a national controversy and calls for a government inquiry. Venter threatened to sue the newspapers which reported that his wife had invited Buthelezi to dance.{{Cite news |last=Mohr |first=Charles |date=1972-12-03 |title=Dance in Dispute in South Africa |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1972/12/03/archives/dance-in-dispute-in-south-africa-white-womans-turn-with-a-black-is.html |access-date=2024-07-03 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}
In May 1976 at the Press Club, Prime Minister John Vorster expressed willingness to negotiate with American President Gerald Ford over Southern Rhodesia and Namibia.{{Cite news |last=Burns |first=John F. |date=1976-05-24 |title=South Africans Hoping for an Understanding With U.S |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1976/05/24/archives/south-africans-hoping-for-an-understanding-with-us.html |access-date=2024-07-03 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} Henry Kissinger said in his memoirs that Vorster's remarks provided the impetus for dialogue between the United States and South Africa.{{Cite book |last=Kissinger |first=Henry |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B4LRAgAAQBAJ |title=The Complete Memoirs |date=2014-05-22 |publisher=Simon & Schuster UK |isbn=978-1-4711-3679-5 |language=en}}
In November 1986, Cape Times editor Tony Heard drew "the biggest-yet attendance at a Cape Town Press Club meeting" when he gave a speech on press freedom shortly after being arrested for publishing an interview with a banned person, activist Oliver Tambo, in violation of the Internal Security Act.{{Cite journal |last=Duodu |first=Cameron |date=1986 |title=Cape Times: Cape Town Ovation for Heard |url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1080/03064228608534008 |journal=Index on Censorship |language=en |volume=15 |issue=1 |pages=8–10 |doi=10.1080/03064228608534008 |issn=0306-4220}}
In May 1990 at the Press Club, Thabo Mbeki briefed the media on the first day of negotiations over the Groote Schuur Minute.{{Cite news |last=Wren |first=Christopher S. |date=1990-05-04 |title=Mandela Ally Speaks of Broader Talks |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/05/04/world/mandela-ally-speaks-of-broader-talks.html |access-date=2024-07-03 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite book |last=Gevisser |first=Mark |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bRe4EAAAQBAJ |title=Thabo Mbeki: The Dream Deferred |date=2022 |publisher=Jonathan Ball Publishers |isbn=978-1-77619-199-4 |language=en}}
In March 2007 at the Press Club, Helen Zille announced her campaign to become federal leader of the Democratic Alliance.{{Cite web |date=2007-03-15 |title=Zille to run for DA leadership |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2007-03-15-zille-to-run-for-da-leadership/ |access-date=2024-07-03 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}
In April 2007 at the Press Club, Jacob Zuma confirmed that he would stand for the presidency of the African National Congress "if asked to".{{Cite book |last=Gordin |first=Jeremy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PMbnDwAAQBAJ |title=Zuma: A Biography |date=2010-11-22 |publisher=Jonathan Ball Publishers |isbn=978-1-86842-371-2 |language=en}}
In October 2013 at the Press Club, Marius Fransman claimed that 98 per cent of "landowners and property owners" in Cape Town were Jewish, sparking an antisemitism row.{{Cite web |date=2013-10-16 |title=Africa Check: No evidence to support ANC leader's claim that 98% of property owners in Cape Town are 'white' and 'Jewish' |url=https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2013-10-16-africa-check-no-evidence-to-support-anc-leaders-claim-that-98-of-property-owners-in-cape-town-are-white-and-jewish/ |access-date=2024-07-03 |website=Daily Maverick |language=en}}{{Cite news |date=15 October 2013 |title=ANC MP wants Fransman disciplined |url=https://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/anc-mp-wants-fransman-disciplined-1591987 |access-date=3 July 2024 |work=IOL}}
During Jacob Zuma's presidency, Evita Bezuidenhout delivered an annual Luthuli Housekeeping Report at the Press Club as a satirical alternative to the State of the Nation Address.{{Cite web |last=Bezuidenhout |first=Evita |date=2015-02-10 |title=Evita's 2014 Luthuli Houskeeping Report |url=https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2015-02-10-evitas-2014-luthuli-houskeeping-report/ |access-date=2024-07-03 |website=Daily Maverick |language=en}}{{Cite news |last=Bezuidenhout |first=Evita |date=2016-03-04 |title=Hi, my name is Evita and I'm a racist |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/04/south-africa-racist-evita-bezuidenhout |access-date=2024-07-03 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}{{Cite web |last=Uys |first=Pieter-Dirk |date=2017-02-07 |title=Evita's Luthuli Housekeeping Report of 2017: Let us again make South Africa great again |url=https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2017-02-08-evitas-luthuli-housekeeping-report-of-2017-let-us-again-make-south-africa-great-again/ |access-date=2024-07-03 |website=Daily Maverick |language=en}}
In October 2019 at the Press Club, John Steenhuisen announced his campaign to become federal leader of the Democratic Alliance.{{Cite web |date=2019-10-28 |title=It's official: Steenhuisen announces he will contest DA leadership |url=https://www.citizen.co.za/news/south-africa/politics/its-official-steenhuisen-announces-he-will-contest-da-leadership/ |access-date=2024-07-03 |website=The Citizen |language=en}}
In March 2022 at the Press Club, Ukrainian Ambassador, Liubov Abravitova, confirms that whilst South African President Cyril Ramaphosa had twice talked with Russian President Vladimir Putin since the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, President Ramaphosa had made no effort to have similar communication with officials in the Ukrainian government.{{Cite web |last=Fabricius |first=Peter |date=2022-04-18 |title=Ukraine's ambassador urges SA to acknowledge the suffering of her people |url=https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2022-04-18-ukraines-ambassador-urges-sa-to-acknowledge-the-suffering-of-her-people/ |access-date=2024-08-07 |website=Daily Maverick |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Felix |first=Jason |title=Be careful of what Russia tells you - Ukrainian ambassador to South Africa |url=https://www.news24.com/news24/southafrica/news/be-careful-of-what-russia-tells-you-ukrainian-ambassador-to-south-africa-20220311 |access-date=2024-08-07 |website=News24 |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Nombembe |first=Philani |date=11 March 2022 |title='Is this how Madiba would have reacted to Russia's aggression?' Ukrainian ambassador asks Ramaphosa |url=https://www.timeslive.co.za/politics/2022-03-11-is-this-how-madiba-would-have-reacted-to-russias-aggression-ukrainian-ambassador-asks-ramaphosa/ |access-date=7 August 2024 |website=timeslive.co.za}}{{Cite web |title=South Africa's neutral stance on Ukraine war puts it on 'wrong side of history' |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/europe/south-africa-s-neutral-stance-on-ukraine-war-puts-it-on-wrong-side-of-history-1.4831581 |access-date=2024-08-07 |website=The Irish Times |language=en}}

Barry Streek Memorial Lectures

2007: Kader Asmal{{Cite news |last=Quintal |first=Angela |date=7 August 2007 |title=Asmal cautions against judiciary battle |url=https://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/asmal-cautions-against-judiciary-battle-365238 |access-date=3 July 2024 |work=IOL}}
2009: Helen Zille{{Cite news |date=22 September 2009 |title='I have had so much abuse poured on me' |url=https://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/i-have-had-so-much-abuse-poured-on-me-459383 |access-date=3 July 2024 |work=IOL}}
2010: Allister Sparks{{Cite web |date=28 October 2010 |title=Allister Sparks – Surviving the Media Crisis (Barry Streek Memorial Lecture) |url=http://www.capetownpc.org.za/speech-transcripts/allister-sparks-surviving-the-media-crisis-barry-streek-memorial-lecture/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161022001121/http://www.capetownpc.org.za/speech-transcripts/allister-sparks-surviving-the-media-crisis-barry-streek-memorial-lecture/ |archive-date=2016-10-22 |access-date=2024-07-03 |website=Cape Town Press Club}}
2011: Colin Eglin{{Cite news |date=2 October 2011 |title=DA moves to attract more black voters |url=https://www.iol.co.za/news/da-moves-to-attract-more-black-voters-1148747 |access-date=3 July 2024 |work=IOL}}
2012: F. W. de Klerk{{Cite news |last=Davis |first=Gaye |date=7 September 2012 |title=Workers, jobless the new divide – De Klerk |url=https://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/workers-jobless-the-new-divide-de-klerk-1377985 |access-date=3 July 2024 |work=IOL}}
2013: Tony Leon{{Cite news |date=8 August 2013 |title=Tony Leon salutes Barry Streek |url=https://www.iol.co.za/capetimes/opinion/tony-leon-salutes-barry-streek-1559780 |access-date=3 July 2024 |work=Cape Times}}
2014: Patricia de Lille
2015: Mmusi Maimane{{Cite news |date=5 June 2015 |title=ANC attacks have left sections of SA media 'compromised': Maimane |url=https://www.timeslive.co.za/politics/2015-06-05-anc-attacks-have-left-sections-of-sa-media-compromised-maimane/ |access-date=3 July 2024 |work=Sunday Times}}
2016: R. W. Johnson
2017: Max du Preez
2018: Lindiwe Mazibuko{{Cite news |last=Mokone |first=Thabo |date=1 August 2018 |title=Mazibuko supports De Lille, says her love for the DA won't be everlasting |url=https://www.timeslive.co.za/politics/2018-08-01-mazibuko-supports-de-lille-says-her-love-for-the-da-wont-be-everlasting/ |access-date=3 July 2024 |work=Sunday Times}}
2019: Pippa Green{{Cite web |date=2019-07-03 |title=Barry Streek Memorial Lecture 2019 by Pippa Green |url=https://capetownpc.org.za/2019/07/barry-streek-memorial-lecture-2019-by-pippa-green/ |access-date=2024-07-03 |website=Cape Town Press Club |language=en-US}}
2020: Anton Harber{{Cite web |last=Harber |first=Anton |date=2020-07-15 |title=Journalism plays a critical role in the scrutiny of public life |url=https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2020-07-16-remembering-barry-streek-and-the-critical-role-journalism-plays-in-the-scrutiny-of-public-life/ |access-date=2024-07-03 |website=Daily Maverick |language=en}}
2022: Gwen Lister{{Cite web |last=Lister |first=Gwen |date=2022-03-04 |title=Saving journalism and engendering trust through activism |url=https://ispeak.africa/saving-journalism-and-engendering-trust-through-activism/ |access-date=2024-07-03 |website=iSPEAK |language=en-US}}
2023: Jonathan Jansen{{Cite web |title=Prof Jonathan Jansen on the Leadership Crisis in South African Universities |url=https://capetownpc.org.za/events/prof-jonathan-jansen-on-the-leadership-crisis-in-south-african-universities/ |access-date=2024-07-03 |website=Cape Town Press Club |language=en-US}}
2024: Cheryl Carolus{{Cite web |title=Barry Streek/Donwald Pressly Memorial Lecture delivered by Cheryl Carolus |url=https://capetownpc.org.za/events/barry-streek-donwald-pressly-memorial-lecture-delivered-by-cheryl-carolus/ |access-date=2024-07-03 |website=Cape Town Press Club |language=en-US}}

Controversies

= Membership policy =

On 4 May 2012, Tina Joemat-Pettersson, then the Minister of Agriculture, withdrew from a breakfast speaking engagement at the Press Club because opposition politician Pieter van Dalen, a member of the club, was present in the audience.{{Cite news |date=4 May 2012 |title=Minister refuses to speak in DA's presence |url=https://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Minister-refuses-to-speak-in-DAs-presence-20120504?cpid=2 |access-date=3 July 2024 |work=News24}}{{Cite news |date=4 May 2012 |title=Joemat-Pettersson's conduct 'disrespectful' |url=https://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/joemat-petterssons-conduct-disrespectful-1289528 |access-date=3 July 2024 |work=IOL}} In the prologue to a series of mutual recriminations, her behaviour was criticised publicly by Yusuf Abramjee of the National Press Club, as well as by Cape Town Press Club chairperson Donwald Pressly. In response, Joemat-Pettersson released a statement that concluded with the barb, "We now finally understand why the majority of black reporters in the city are not members of the press club."{{Cite web |date=4 May 2012 |title=Why I refused to address the Cape Town Press Club – Joemat-Pettersson |url=https://www.politicsweb.co.za/politics/why-i-refused-to-address-the-cape-town-press-club- |access-date=2024-07-03 |website=PoliticsWeb |language=en}}

The governing African National Congress (ANC) defended Joemat-Petterson: party spokesman Jackson Mthembu argued that van Dalen's membership in the Press Club undermined its claim to being a professional and non-partisan organisation,{{Cite web |date=2012-05-08 |title=ANC lashes out at press club 'alienation' |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2012-05-08-anc-lashes-out-at-press-club-alienation/ |access-date=2024-07-03 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}} and Chief Whip Mathole Motshekga proposed that the club should review its membership criteria to ensure that politicians did not "infiltrate the ranks of a press body".{{Cite web |date=2012-05-08 |title=ANC lauds CT press club's membership discussion |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2012-05-08-anc-lauds-ct-press-clubs-membership-discussion/ |access-date=2024-07-03 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}} Pressly pointed out that the club's members included ANC politicians too. Nonetheless, Motshekga's suggestion provoked debate among the commentariat about the membership policies of press clubs.{{Cite web |last=Pressly |first=Donwald |date=2012-05-11 |title=The home of critical, open debate |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2012-05-11-the-home-of-critical-open-debate/ |access-date=2024-07-03 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}{{Cite web |last=Mangena |first=Isaac |date=2012-05-08 |title=Press clubs are no places for {{as written|politica|ns [sic]}}, period |url=https://thoughtleader.co.za/press-clubs-are-no-places-for-politicans-period/ |access-date=2024-07-03 |website=Thought Leader |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Meersman |first=Brent |date=2012-05-09 |title=Press clubs are for public engagement, not political intolerance |url=https://thoughtleader.co.za/press-clubs-are-for-public-engagement-not-political-intolerance/ |access-date=2024-07-03 |website=Thought Leader |language=en-US}} During a show at the Press Club the next month, Evita Bezuidenhout satirised Joemat-Pettersson's behaviour.{{Cite web |last=Davis |first=Rebecca |date=2012-06-01 |title=Evita Bezuidenhout: Don't cry for me, Bapetikosweti |url=https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2012-06-01-dont-cry-for-me-bapetikosweti/ |access-date=2024-07-03 |website=Daily Maverick |language=en}}

= Steve Hofmeyr =

In October 2016, the Press Club cancelled a scheduled event featuring Steve Hofmeyr, a musician noted for his far-right-wing political views.{{Cite news |date=13 October 2016 |title=Steve Hofmeyr talk at CT Press Club cancelled |url=https://www.news24.com/news24/steve-hofmeyr-talk-at-ct-press-club-cancelled-20161013 |access-date=3 July 2024 |work=News24}}{{Cite web |last=Lowman |first=Stuart |date=2016-10-14 |title=Pressly: Allowing 'the wrong' a platform to preach. Why we had to cancel Hofmeyr. |url=https://www.biznews.com/thought-leaders/2016/10/14/allowing-wrong-platform-preach-cancel-hofmeyr |access-date=2024-07-03 |website=BizNews.com |language=en-GB}} The club was criticised both for scheduling the engagement{{Cite news |date=13 October 2016 |title=Axed by popular demand: Cape Town Press Club nixes Steve Hofmeyr talk |url=https://www.businesslive.co.za/news/latest-news/2016-10-13-axed-by-popular-demand-cape-town-press-club-nixes-steve-hofmeyr-talk/ |access-date=3 July 2024 |work=Business Day}} and for cancelling it.{{Cite web |last=Silber |first=Gus |date=2017-01-06 |title=What's the good news? Fake news and acts of kindness |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2017-01-06-00-whats-the-good-news-fake-news-and-acts-of-kindness/ |access-date=2024-07-03 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}

= Parliament =

In November 2017, when asked by administrators of the South African Parliament to "alert" Press Club members to an upcoming parliamentary briefing, Pressly (then serving as the club's full-time secretary) sent a WhatsApp that read, "What is so important about ANC thugs wanting to advertise their press conference which is NOT our function".{{Cite news |last=Mzantsi |first=Siyavuya |date=17 November 2017 |title=Cape Town Press Club secretary mum on his suspension |url=https://www.iol.co.za/capetimes/news/cape-town-press-club-secretary-mum-on-his-suspension-12040580 |access-date=3 July 2024 |work=Cape Times}} Parliament issued a public statement which quoted the content of the message and condemned it as an "astonishingly vitriolic attack on the Presiding Officers of Parliament".{{Cite web |date=15 November 2017 |title=Parliament registers concern about unprofessional vitriolic attack from Cape Town Press Club secretary |url=https://www.parliament.gov.za/press-releases/parliament-registers-concern-about-unprofessional-vitriolic-attack-cape-town-press-club-secretary |access-date=3 July 2024 |website=Parliament of South Africa}} The Press Club distanced itself from Pressly's message, and it later said that he had been "severely sanctioned".{{Cite news |last=Villette |first=Francesca |date=10 August 2018 |title=Press Club under fire |url=https://www.iol.co.za/capetimes/news/press-club-under-fire-16483041 |access-date=3 July 2024 |work=Cape Times}}

= Racial composition =

In a front-page article in August 2018, the Cape Times reported that, at its recent annual general meeting, the Press Club had elected an "all-white, predominantly male" committee. The newspaper quoted critical reactions from parliamentary spokesperson Moloto Mothapo, who Tweeted that the Press Club "has reverted to its old pre-1994 self", and from provincial ANC leaders: ANC provincial secretary Faiez Jacobs called on the Press Club to appoint a more demographically representative committee, and ANC legislator Cameron Dugmore said that the development was "deeply disappointing" and that the Press Club "owe[d] everyone an explanation".{{Cite news |last=Villette |first=Francesca |date=13 August 2018 |title=First black Press Club chairperson quits |url=https://www.iol.co.za/capetimes/news/first-black-press-club-chairperson-quits-16517043 |access-date=3 July 2024 |work=Cape Times}} In response the Press Club explained that, due to a shortfall of candidates, everybody who had volunteered to serve on the committee had been appointed, and that it intended to co-opt additional black members if any volunteered.{{Cite web |date=14 October 2018 |title=A reply to the Cape Times – Cape Town Press Club |url=https://www.politicsweb.co.za/politics/a-reply-to-the-cape-times--cape-town-press-club |access-date=2024-07-03 |website=PoliticsWeb |language=en}}

Later the same week, the Cape Times printed the resignation letter of Joylene van Wyk, a black journalist at Landbouweekblad who had served as the Press Club's co-chairperson until she failed to gain re-election at the 2018 general meeting. Van Wyk told the newspaper that she was resigning her membership because of the Press Club's elitism, saying, "It's got that elitist vibe, with black journalists sitting on the side, and the elite eating cake." In later editions, the newspaper printed van Wyk's further allegations that the Press Club had been captured by commercial interests, particularly the newspaper the Cape Messenger.{{Cite news |last=Villette |first=Francesca |date=31 August 2018 |title=Press Club's 'blatant bias, commercial plans' slated |url=https://www.iol.co.za/capetimes/news/press-clubs-blatant-bias-commercial-plans-slated-16816448 |access-date=3 July 2024 |work=Cape Times}}{{Cite news |last=van Wyk |first=Joylene |date=1 September 2018 |title=What is the Cape Town Press Club up to? |url=https://www.iol.co.za/capetimes/opinion/what-is-the-cape-town-press-club-up-to-16831892 |access-date=3 July 2024 |work=Cape Times}} The Press Club strongly denied her allegations,{{Cite web |date=2018-08-31 |title=Cape Town Press Club Once Again Has to Set the Record Straight |url=https://capetownpc.org.za/2018/08/cape-town-press-club-once-again-has-to-set-the-record-straight/ |access-date=2024-07-03 |website=Cape Town Press Club |language=en-US}} and Ed Herbst suggested in an opinion piece that the Cape Times's reporting was part of a personal attack on Pressly by Iqbal Survé, Pressly's former employer, whose Sekunjalo vehicle owned the newspaper.{{Cite web |last=Herbst |first=Ed |date=2018-08-24 |title=A fake news attack on the Cape Town Press Club |url=https://themediaonline.co.za/2018/08/a-fake-news-attack-on-the-cape-town-press-club/ |access-date=2024-07-03 |website=The Media Online |language=en-US}}

Gallery

{{Gallery

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| File:Kader Asmal.jpg

| Kader Asmal delivers the inaugural Streek lecture, 2007

| File:RW Johnson.jpg

| R. W. Johnson delivers the Streek lecture, 2016

| File:Max Du Preez.jpg

| Max du Preez delivers the Streek lecture, 2017

| File:Jacques Pauw 20221221.jpg

| Jacques Pauw launches Our Poisoned Land, 2022

| File:Judith Todd - Cape Town Press Club - 25 May 2007.jpg

| Judith Todd discusses human rights in Zimbabwe, 2007.

| File:Mpumelelo Mkhabela on 'why the ANC’s cadre project was such a failure'.jpg

|Mpumelelo Mkhabela discusses cadre deployment by the ANC, 2022

| Liubov Abravitova 2022 press club - cropped.jpg

|Ukrainian Ambassador Liubov Abravitova following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, 2022.

}}

References

External links

[https://capetownpc.org.za/ Cape Town Press Club website]
[https://capetownpc.org.za/constitution/ Cape Town Press Club constitution]
[http://www.mandela.gov.za/mandela_speeches/1996/961031_capepress.htm Address] on the club's 21st anniversary by Nelson Mandela, 31 October 1996

Category:1975 establishments in South Africa

Category:Clubs and societies in South Africa

Category:Freedom of expression organizations

Category:Mass media in Cape Town

Category:Non-profit organisations based in South Africa

Category:Organisations based in Cape Town

Category:Organizations established in 1975

Category:Press clubs