Communications minister Dina Pule has lodged a formal complaint with the Press Ombudsman to investigate what she calls defamatory articles written about her in the Sunday Times newspaper.
In a statement the communications department says that the Sunday Times continues to publish false allegations against Pule despite the on-going processes by Parliament's ethics committee and the Public Protector.
"The Sunday Times seems hell-bent on influencing the outcomes of these processes."
The ministry's response follows after the latest report in the Sunday Times on 5 May, stating that Pule sent her lawyer, Ronnie Bokwa, to apologise after the minister held a press conference.
During the media briefing, she alleged that "serious and damaging" allegations published against her by three of Sunday Times journalists were part of a sophisticated ploy to intimidate her into swaying the multibillion-rand tender for set-top boxes in SA's migration to digital television.
Department spokesperson, Siqa Qosa says the minister has not apologised to the Sunday Times, and has no intention to do so. "The individuals mentioned by the Sunday Times do not represent Pule.
The Sunday Times even went further to allege that one of the individuals concerned is Pule's lawyer. This is false."
He adds that Sunday Times editors foolishly published the story without even checking the facts. "Shockingly, the Sunday Times reported about this without even seeking a response from Pule on the specific allegations."
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