By Marimuthu Subramoney
(aka Subry Govender)
"Freedom of the media, which is the essence of democracy, will flourish in our country. We will feel deprived if we had a press that does not consider itself independent and free to criticise the action of public figures." These noble and gallant words were expressed by no less a leader than former President and former leader of the ANC, Nelson Mandela, when addressing local and foreign journalists in Johannesburg only a few days before the country's first democratic elections on April 27 1994.
Mandela added: "We need a Government that puts people first. The ANC will strive for an open society. Democracy means more than just a vote, it means vigorous debate. People must be free to express their views without fear, including criticising the Government of the day."
The independent and free media that Mandela talked about was enshrined in our new constiion when the ANC was elected to power 17 years ago. South Africans had been assured that the new democracy will promote the growth of a free, unhibited and vibrant media.
It would be unlike the media of the apartheid era when scores of progressives journalists had to pay a heavy price in the struggles for a free media. Former Defence Minister, Charles Nqakula; Press Ombudsman Joe Thloloe; former SABC CEO Zwelike Sisulu; Mathatha Tseudu; Juby Mayet; Philip Mthimkulu and the writer were just some of the scores of media people who had been jailed, banned and house-arrested, harrassed and intimidated and denied passports between the 1970s and late 1980s for fighting for media freedom.
For most of the past 17 years there's no doubt whatsoever that we as journalists have enjoyed the privilege of operating without any restrictions, curbs or threats.
But over the past few years some ruling members and politicians have tried to "stifle" the media with threats and other forms of intimidation.
Some of the new politicians even used to telephone editors and journalists to influence them to cover their progammes and speeches. They wanted journalists to be their "PROs".
Some of the politicians did not take kindly to the reportage of the widespread corruption which unfortunately has become part and parcel of our new South African democracy. One politician in the Eastern Cape recently even called on people to burn down a local newspaper because he saw the newspaper as not being supportive of the ruling party.
Therefore, the new measures, the Protection of Information Bill and the Media Appeals Tribunal, that the Government and the ruling ANC are now trying to push through parliament with undue haste have come as no surprise.
But for "struggle" leaders like Mandela and others, the new moves will not only be a surprise but also a painful and shocking development.
At this period it is worth recalling the high regard in which Mandela and others had held the media in. Only a day after he was released from prison on February 11, 1990, Mandela addressed the media at the home of Archbishop Desmond Tutu in Cape Town. He not only acknowledged the role the media played in his freedom and that of others but also congratulated them for their work.
"I want to assure you," he said, "that I am absolutely excited to be out".
He went on: "I am also excited to have the opportunity of addressing you because throughout these difficult years in prison the press, both local and foreign, had been a brick to us.
"I think it was the intention of the Government that we should be forgotten and that their leaders - leaders of the homelands and the bantustans and all those who work within Government structures - should be built up and that we should be forgotten.
"It was the press that kept the memory of those who had been in prison for offences which they had committed in the course of their political activities. It was the press that never forgot us and therefore we are indebted to you and I am happy to be here this morning with you."
Over the next few years during his travels around the country and to many parts of the world, Mandela ensured that he always maintained a cordial relationship with journalists and regularly engaged in jovial exchanges. He never forgot to compliment the media whenever the need arose.
"Being followed around by competent journalists and asked questions all the time keeps us on our toes," he once told journalists at a media briefing in Johannesburg.
But at the same time he also stood his ground when he disagreed with questions posed by journalists. He always did this without ever trying to give the impression that he wanted journalists to "toe the line" and stop asking awkward and difficult questions.
"Journalists have threatened that they are going to ask me awkward questions and I hope there are very good journalists who would protect me," he said once in early 1994.
"As foreign correspondents you will experience from your own perspective the difficulties of transition to a democratic South Africa. We have just three months before South Africa's first democratic elections. The future hold many exciting prospects for South Africa."
Now with Mandela and other leaders out of the way, there are some, not the majority, who pay very little value to a free and unbridled media in a democracy.
These elements must be reminded that a free, unfettered, courageous and vibrant media is the only guarantor of the continuation of our new hard-fought and earned non-racial democracy.
Therefore, despite the freedom of the media being guaranteed in our constitution, journalists must take up the cudgels and not stop until the powers that be remove the new Protection of the Information Bill and the ANC discards the Media Appeals Tribunal. There could be discussions about the Media Appeals Tribunal but we cannot allow a statutory tribunal that is going to be made up of government-appointed "party hacks" and other "hangers on". The campaign against the two measures must continue even if journalists have to go to jail once again in defence of the "freedom of the media" that Nelson Mandela talked about after being released in 1990 from nearly three decades of imprisonment.
South Africans must realise that at one time after Zimbabwe gained its independence in 1980 that country also enjoyed freedom of the press. But after President Robert Mugabe began to interfere and made the media a "mouthpiece" of his regime, one could see what has happened to the media there.
The measures now being promoted by the Government and the ANC may be the start of our media also travelling that route and becoming a "pliant" and "toothless" institution.
One is compelled to ask the question: What are some of the leaders and officials of the ruling ANC and the Government afraid of? We are not at war with any country nor anyone intending to attack our country for our gold and diamonds!
We are only at war with widescale fraud, corruption, thievery and other misdeeds at local, provincial and national government levels. The ANC and the Government must realise that if we don't expose these misdeeds then we will only be violating the freedom of expression and freedom of the media that all of us, including the ANC, fought for and won. Why should socially-conscious journalists be sent to lengthy jail terms if they expose corruption and other misdeeds committed by elected political leaders and government officials? The proposed new media regulations now before parliament will, once it becomes law, allow the Government not only to hide official corruption but also to jail courageous journalists who are not prepared to "toe the line". - Subry Govender, Chief Editor
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