Paper Tiger: Iqbal Surve and the downfall of Independent

When Iqbal Survé fired Cape Times editor Alide Dasnois the day after Nelson Mandela’s death amid accusations of disrespect towards Mandela, a storm engulfed Independent Newspapers. Many pointed to a Cape Times story about one of Survé’s firms as the real reason for his ire.

In the months that followed, newsrooms were torn apart by suspicion, recrimination and what many believed was a witch hunt to expel those not prepared to toady to the owner. Veteran journalists Dasnois and Chris Whitfield tell the real inside story.