Grocott’s Mail is deeply concerned about the ruling party’s renewed attacks on the media.
Grocott’s Mail is deeply concerned about the ruling party’s renewed attacks on the media.
During the recent election campaign, top ANC officials publicly identified the media as the enemy; it is therefore not surprising that Nelson Mandela Bay ANC regional chairperson Nceba Faku felt free to call on his followers to burn down the Herald newspaper. This incitement to arson runs counter to the principles of democracy that form the basis of our national constitution.
The South African National Editors Forum said it was shocked by Faku’s calls and called on President Jacob Zuma to take action against him immediately Chairperson of the Eastern Cape branch of the SA Freelancers Association, Mike Loewe, expressed the dismay of his organisation, noting that the Herald has been investigating Faku for corruption.
To our knowledge no action has been taken against Faku and government has only issued a somewhat tepid statement about the incident. It is appalling that Faku could make such a call, but it is even worse that ANC leadership should react in such a lukewarm manner.
The Faku incident is, however, only one symptom of the ANC’s campaign to muzzle those who criticise the party. This week the ANC is once again using its parliamentary majority to push through the Protection of Information Bill. If passed, this Bill could allow the ruling party to imprison, for up to 15 years, anyone who exposed corruption, or any other type of crime for that matter, in a government body.
The ANC has fought hard to exclude a clause that would make an exception to the rule for reports made in the public interest.
The Bill, more appropriately described as the Secrecy Bill, clashes with the Promotion of Access to Information Act which seeks to make government held information accessible to the public, and it certainly clashes with the South African Constitution. It would therefore seem that the ANC is determined to change the Constitution so that it can lock up some pesky journalists, without anyone asking silly questions.
