 Sanef ropes an independent auditor to probe SABC8 donations. Johannesburg, the South African National Editors Forum, Sanef, on Friday appointed an independent auditor to investigate the alleged R100000 donation reported to have been paid by BOSESA operations to a crowdfunding campaign for a group of eight journalists who were suspended from the public broadcaster. Times Live reported on Tuesday that BOSESA, now known as African Global Operations appeared to have paid the money towards a crowdfunding campaign to help the journalists with their legal fees in 2016. BOSESA has emerged as a key player in capturing the state and bribing high-ranking officials in order to win lucrative tenders. The SABC8 were journalists who were suspended for speaking out against censorship of protest footage by the South African Broadcasting Corporation, SABC. Times Live said it had seen a leaked email in which former BOSESA chief operations officer, Angelo Agritzi, instructed other officials to make the R100000 donation, saying it would be the best return on investment. Agritzi is currently testifying against the company at the Zondo Commission of Inquiry into allegations of state capture. He said BOSESA had paid bribes to some journalists do not write certain stories. Even though Sanef on Wednesday denied any donation from BOSESA to the SABC8 and it could not find any evidence to support this in its own investigation, it has now said it felt it necessary to set out the facts and its position in greater detail. As such we have now called upon an independent auditing firm, named to be released in due course, to conduct a full introspection of the account for purpose of transparency. We will publish the findings in full when completed, it said in a statement. The emergence of an alleged email, purportedly from within BOSESA suggesting that they may have contributed to the SABC8 has caused some members of the public to question the ethical commitments of Sanef. We want to state categorically that we never solicited funds from BOSESA. Sanef said while editorial mistakes contribute to the erosion of trust, it would like to urge the public to not underestimate what appears to be strategically and clinically organized efforts to erode the credibility of journalists and their endeavors to inform the public so it may participate meaningfully in the affairs of our country. Being said we will not condone shoddy journalism and have no hesitation in calling to order our own in the media, hence every effort is being made to institute an independent commission of inquiry into credibility and ethics in the media. Members of the public will be encouraged to participate and lodge complaints, it said.