Editors who attended an off-the-record briefing with National Director of Public Prosecutions Bulelani Ngcuka are outraged by former City Press editor Vusi Mona's testimony before the Hefer Commission.

Mona on Wednesday told the commission about the confidential briefing in July, in what former colleagues see as an unethical breach of its off-the-record nature. Mail and Guardian editor Mondli Makhanya said last night that Mona had every right to exercise his right to testify.

"But it is a sad day when senior journalists, in particular editors, can't be trusted to uphold the most sacred tenet of our profession.

"I think the sad part is that the relationship between journalists and the people we speak to has been compromised."

Makhanya said it would take years to restore the type of confidence betrayed by Mona during his testimony.

Former Sunday Times editor Mathatha Tsedu, who also attended the Ngcuka briefing, said Mona had been quoted in a daily newspaper as saying he was attending the commission as an ordinary citizen.

"The problem is, he did not attend the briefing as an ordinary citizen. The practice of journalism will suffer if journalists are not trusted."

Tsedu added that one should understand where Mona was coming from, and he did not think that journalism had been dealt a blow.

SA National Editors' Forum (Sanef) chairperson Henry Jeffreys said the forum was worried that a senior editor, who should understand the nature of a confidential meeting, had breached journalists' code of ethics.

"At the Sanef meeting in Johannesburg over the weekend we agreed that we would distance ourselves from any journalist who would testify at the Hefer Commission.

"Journalists can't do that (reveal the contents of a confidential meeting). We can't compromise our credibility. We condemn the manner in which he (Mona) breached the code of our ethics."

Freedom of Expression Institute anti-censorship programme head Simon Ndungu divided the issue into two parts.

"Firstly, it is unethical for journalists to voluntarily reveal information given on the basis of confidentiality. The meeting between Ngcuka and the editors was off the record, meaning that the information was not for the public domain.

"On the other hand, no one can stop Mona from voluntarily giving such information - he has the right to express himself like anyone else. If he chose to spill the beans, there is little we can do about it. However, it is a violation of journalists' code of conduct," Ndungu said.

With acknowledgements to Ndivhuwo Khangale, Lee Rondganger and The Star.