Weaver leaves Cape Times

Cape Town - Cape Times assistant editor Tony Weaver will be leaving the newspaper on Thursday by agreement, Independent Media said.

Independent's chief of staff Zenariah Barends said the parties had concluded a "mutually beneficial separation agreement" following a number of internal processes, including a disciplinary hearing.

"Independent has out of goodwill agreed that Tony retain all rights to his column, Man Friday, as part of the agreement," she said.

"The company thanks Tony for his contribution and wishes him everything of the best for his future endeavours."

Last month, the Mail & Guardian online reported that Weaver had been charged with unacceptable behaviour after allegedly questioning an attempt to crop Pick n Pay's signage from a photo about a mall robbery.

The Mail & Guardian's unnamed sources claimed that a senior Cape Times editor had wanted to crop the sign because they did not want to lose their business as a major advertiser.

Cape Times editor Gasant Abarder was quoted as saying that the matter was internal and the Labour Relations Act prevented him from commenting.

"Please understand that it’s not that I don’t want to comment; it’s just that I can’t comment."