the Case of Dr. T vs the Sunday World
By Hassen Lorgat
I recently received the ruling from my appeal before Judge B M Ngoepe (Retired Judge President), Chair of the Appeals Panel, and unfortunately, the outcome was not in my favor. The case is officially labeled Hassen Lorgat vs. Sunday World, a title that is fundamentally misleading because the actual merits of the case—how the Sunday World handled the story—were never actually heard.
The leave to appeal ruling opened with a cold reality:
“This matter was disposed of by the Deputy Press Ombud on a technical point, namely, lack of locus standi.”
While the Deputy Ombud, Franz Krüger, acknowledged in his initial ruling that “it is also clear that her rights have potentially been infringed,” he did not accept the argument that I had the right to act in and out of solidarity and love for a beleaguered comrade in the struggle. They wanted me to obtain a formal “power of attorney” or a formal mandate from Dr. Tlaleng Mofokeng (Dr. T), which I refused to do.
Ideological “Hit Job” masquerading as News
The complaint stemmed from an article published on 29 October 2025 in the Sunday World titled: “Health professionals body slaps Tlaleng Mofokeng with misconduct over Israel remarks”. Written by Boitumelo Kgobotlo, the piece detailed a finding by the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA), which allegedly found Dr. Mofokeng guilty of misconduct for social media comments regarding the Israeli Prime Minister and an official from UN Watch.
I argued from the start—from the Public Advocate, to the adjudication by the Deputy Ombud, and finally to Justice Ngoepe—that this was a “hit job.” The article bore a disturbing resemblance to a South African Zionist Federation (SAZF) press release headlined: “HPCSA Sanctions UN Special Rapporteur Dr Tlaleng Mofokeng for Unprofessional Conduct”.
The Sunday World failed the absolute basics of journalism by:
- Failing to seek the voice or opinion of Dr. Tlaleng, who was always available and willing to provide her perspective. She was never contacted.
- Failing to verify their facts and failing to contact the HPCSA to confirm details of the complaint in the context of the genocide in Palestine.
I consistently argued that as the SAZF was the complainant in the HPCSA matter, it was reasonable for members of the BDS movement to respond. There was an obligation on BDS and its members to act in solidarity with Dr. Mofokeng.
The Sunday World ignored the fact that Dr. T was on UN duty and not working as a medical doctor. Dr. T’s comments were made in a personal capacity regarding Benjamin Netanyahu, an individual currently subject to an ICC arrest warrant for war crimes.
Whose dignity counts?
It is a profound irony: the SAZF complained to the HPCSA about Netanyahu’s “dignity” being wounded by a private “FU” post, yet the Sunday World felt no need to defend the dignity of a South African health rights advocate by simply asking for her side of the story.
The HPCSA’s willingness to charge a practitioner for expressing outrage against a perpetrator of genocide—while remaining silent on the systematic destruction of hospitals and the killing of healthcare workers in Gaza—is the height of a scandalous double standard. This is done despite a large number of doctors and health care professionals asking for the HPCSA to condemn the genocide in Gaza.
We must watch the UN Watch
The complaint against Dr. T originated from UN Watch, a body Spinwatch confirms is a front for the Israeli government. More recently, their subservience to Zionist leaders was exposed again when they targeted another UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, Francesca Albanese, using a maliciously edited clip to falsely claim she called Israel “the common enemy of humanity.”
The context was the ongoing US-Israeli bombing of Iran—where schools and gyms have been targeted, killing children. The site of these bombings was the Minab School Attack. On February 28, 2026, a missile strike hit the Shajareh Tayyebeh girls’ elementary school in Minab, in southern Iran, resulting in the killing of at least 165 people, with many of the victims being young girls aged seven to 12.
Sadly, The New York Times downplayed these human losses, but the smear campaign against Albanese came in the form of a doctored video trying to paint her as antisemitic. She told Zeteo that “The cut and paste of that video was so rudimental that it was almost insulting to human intelligence”.
It is clear that we are living in a world where the lies of the powerful are rarely scrutinized. I wonder if the UN would deregister this bogus NGO which has membership as a CSO representative in this august body.
Luckily, Albanese, the UN, and other activists have come to her support and solidarity, something that we need to do here at home for Dr. T. She needs us, now.
Conclusion: A Call for Proactive Regulation
The Press Council failed in this case to look past the “politics of representation.” By rejecting the complaint on procedural grounds, they permitted the substantive abuse of power, and the indignity suffered by Dr. T remains unaddressed. By letting the Sunday World get away with bad quality journalism, the Press Council also undermined quality journalism.
As regards the Press Council, I contend that Clause 6.1.5 of the Press Council’s own constitution demands that the Ombud’s office proactively uphold standards even in the absence of a “perfect” public complaint. The role of the Public Advocate, I believe, permits it to act proactively and to facilitate dialogue and mediation to improve journalistic standards before they escalate to these rigid legal stalemates.
Generally, the newspapers and the broadcasters, including the unregulated podcasters, have much work to do to help build a vibrant, democratic, and accountable political culture in our society. The role of the Fourth Estate is not to lick the boots of the powerful. It is to keep their actions under the bright lights of daily scrutiny so that we, the people, can judge for ourselves and keep them honest. It is one test that we cannot fail, but we are under stress.
Hassen Lorgat