Whose freedom? South Africa's press, middle-class bias and the threat of
control

Steven Friedman

Threats to the autonomy of South Africa's press have prompted protest – understandably so. But, while media control or censorship are inimical to the free flow of information, which is essential to democracy, the mainstream press's response to real and perceived threats has done more to reveal the depth of its middle-class bias than to rally citizens behind the defence of freedom. The article seeks to demonstrate that the mainstream media's understanding of freedom is restricted to the liberties of the suburban middle classes. It supports this argument by analysing both the journalistic preoccupations it seeks to defend and the phrasing of its attempts to oppose state control. And it argues that the framing of press freedom as a purely middle-class concern will make it increasingly unlikely that free expression can be effectively defended.

http://mg.co.za/article/2011-11-25-secrecy-bill-shows-ancs-historic-mission-is-over/

Secrecy Bill shows ANC's historic mission is over

Ayanda Kota

When the National Party government realised it was losing its grip on power, it became preoccupied with state security. It was so paranoid that secrecy and censorship became a tool of oppression. It was criminal to possess any document government saw as threatening. Media censorship was severe. On “Black Wednesday”, October 19 1977, 18 black consciousness formations were banned and their leaders jailed, tortured and killed. Newspapers were also banned.

http://www.iol.co.za/capetimes/last-ditch-bid-to-stop-bill-1.1183812

Last ditch bid to stop bill

AN eleventh-hour appeal to Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe yesterday asked him to intervene to forestall today’s National Assembly vote on the Protection of State Information Bill, while the SA National Editors’ Forum (Sanef) urged MPs not to support it.

The Institute for Democracy in South Africa (Idasa) wrote to Motlanthe in his capacity as leader of government business in Parliament, raising concerns not only about the bill, but also the apparent failure of the further consultation process promised by the ANC after it temporarily shelved the bill in September.

http://www.sabc.co.za/news/a/ce84e600492a88918c25ec964776ecc1/ANC-MP-Turok-raises-concerns-about-Info-Bill-20111123

ANC MP Turok raises concerns about Info Bill

ANC MP Ben Turok, one of the ruling party's members who did not vote for the Protection of State Information Bill yesterday, has explained his stand. Turok says there have been many amendments to the Bill and that many MP's don't understand the latest version.

"What alarms me is that different people are placing different interpretations on this legislation. I think we should go forward and take more time and ensure that we all have the same understanding of the purpose of the Bill. The NCOP should delay it, we need another 6 months, we need a lot more consultation and we need that people, the public should read the damn thing," says Turok.

http://www.timeslive.co.za/politics/2011/11/22/info-bill-protesters-gather-outside-parliament

Info bill protesters gather outside parliament

About 600 people are protesting outside parliament against the ANC’s new secrecy law, which is likely to be passed by the National Assembly at 2pm today unless dozens of ANC MPs break ranks and vote against the Protection of State Information Bill.

Carrying placards proclaiming “Jou ma se secret” and “The truth will set us all free”, the protesters, which included grassroots community movements and journalists, said they were opposed to the bill.

http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/Content.aspx?id=159255

Secrecy Bill

by Steven Friedman

If we want to protect our freedoms, we need to make sure they are not seen as the concern of only a few. The Protection of State Information Bill, which comes before Parliament today, is a threat to the freedom of many of us. But those who have campaigned against it have misread both its intent and its likely effect. In the process, they have revealed how the battle for freedom in this society is still the preserve of only some of us.

Freedom only for the supporters of the government, only for the members of one party – however numerous they may be – is no freedom at all. Freedom is always and exclusively freedom for the one who thinks differently. All that is instructive, wholesome and purifying in political freedom depends on this essential characteristic, and its effectiveness vanishes when ‘freedom’ becomes a special privilege.
- Rosa Luxemburg

19 September 2011

Unemployed People's Movement Press Statement
We Stand in Defence of Democracy

It is September month and in September we always remember Steve Biko. The apartheid state could murder Biko, and cover up the murder, because the apartheid state was based on secrets. A truly post-apartheid society cannot just be a society that is ruled by a state under black management. It has to be a genuinely free society.

Leave Cutting Edge Alone

On the 28th April 2011 the SABC television programme Cutting Edge screened a programme on life in Grahamstown. The title of the story was ‘bucket of shame’. In Grahamstown there are vast areas that continue to use the bucket system to shit seventeen years after democracy.

People are shitting in buckets and plastic bags in Ndancama, a township that was erected in 1972. The few RDP houses that have been built are crumbling down. The sewerage is not working.

People are also shitting in buckets and plastic bags in eLuxolweni. RDP houses were supposed to be built here in 2010 but the project was never completed and the contractors have abandoned the site even thought thirty houses remain unbuilt. The quality of the work on the houses that were built is shocking and the sewerage is not working.

http://mg.co.za/article/2011-04-29-the-right-to-demand-answers/

The right to demand answers
LYNLEY DONNELLY - Apr 29 2011

Despite a biting wind and a grey, sodden sky, the Mowbray town hall in Cape Town is overflowing. The audience -- from gogos to grandchildren -- fills the seats in the large room below the main stage decked out in maroon and dusty pink curtaining.

They have come to hear the testimony of individuals and organisations who have struggled to get information out of the state: the history of their ailing housing project, a nuclear safety plan for the public, or rape statistics.

http://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/kwazulu-natal/200-march-against-information-bill-1.689323

200 march against Information Bill

October 27 2010 at 03:41pm

Sibonelo Ngcobo, The Mercury

The Right2Know campaign will round off a week of action to highlight concerns over the possible introduction of the Protection of Information Bill with a marches in Durban and Cape Town, the organisers said. Photo: Sibonelo Ngcobo, The Mercury

About 200 people marched through the Durban central business district on Wednesday to express concern over the possible introduction of the Protection of Information Bill.