The current attempts to muzzle the media is a clear
indication of the African National Congress (ANC) desperation. By banning real
live events and keeping people uninformed
about the actual situation in South
Africa, the ANC have moved a step closer to dictatorship. Control of the media
is a sign that can lead South Africa into a one-party state. Is this the sole objective of the ANC?
You will never get justice in South Africa when criminals create the rules. The ANC and the South
African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) do not want people to see certain
footage because they believe people will be
corrupted. Freedom of information is a powerful tool in the hands of
ordinary citizens. The ANC believe that
the violence, the burning of buildings, riots will enforce people to become
copycats and criminals. What the ANC have forgotten is that these incidents are
not a spur of the moment actions triggered
by events broadcast on television. These protests are planned, by community
leaders who debate issues and take action based on government refusal to meet
their demands.
The decision not to show violent protests has nothing to do
with promoting violence. It has all to do with protecting the ANC during the
elections. By banning the protesting
events, the ANC can protect its image and change the mindset of people.
The SABC argues that using violent protesting footage is a
promotion to encourage others to follow. The SABC have a weak excuse as the
station plays movies of murder, war and other social ills all the time. Is this
then not a promotion of violence? Of
course, when the SABC tells the story of anti-apartheid or a liberation
struggle, the station shows protests of police and unarmed black people fighting
for freedom on the streets.
It is this type of footage the ANC and the SABC do not want
you to see because they believe you will be corrupted. Is this the kind of stories the ANC do not want you to read
because it will damage the reputation of the party.
21 March 1960: Sharpeville Massacre
Police shoot and kill protesters at
Sharpeville and at Langa, Cape Town.
The Sharpeville and Langa incidents bring
journalists to South Africa in large numbers, and international audiences see
shocking footage of the massacre on television.
Pictures played an important part in
the local publishing of the events. Laurence Gandar, the editor of the Rand Daily Mail, decides not to publish one of these, which
shows bodies strewn as far as the camera could see because it might inflame
further violence.
Cape Times driver, Richard Lombard, is
killed in Langa. The photographer and
reporter, Cloete Breytenbach and Terry Mc Comb Herbst, whom Lombard had driven
into the township, escaped with the assistance of the police. Lombard was taken
out of the car by the rioting crowd, shot, doused with gasoline and burnt. A limb was severed from his body. Herbst had a bottle smashed over his
head.63 The editor of the Cape Times,
Victor Norton, banned staff from entering the townships "until things
quietened down".
18 June 1976
Police come under heavy fire in Alexandra, "but this was almost entirely concealed to protect white morale and the confidence of
investors.
Alexandra was at war, with the army called
in to back up the police, but the press collaborated with the government to
conceal the fact. The police were caught
by surprise and suffered casualties (including probable deaths), but these were
not revealed."
From this present moment, the SABC will not cover violence or bad
news of any kind. South Africans can relax, it will only be good news and a
closer move to a dictatorship.
Laura Oneale - published on South Africa Today – South Africa News
No comments:
Post a Comment