When we crossed the Red Sea, I thought we had arrived in the land of milk and honey. How wrong I was! I mean, in 1994, we democratically elected the ANC to lead us into the promised land and not to take us back to the dark ages. The ruling party has finally made public a discussion document on its proposed media appeals tribunal. The document, which has been prepared for approval by the ANC National General Council in Durban this September, made a number of familiar party accusations against the media. Signs are there for all to see that it has since resolved to introduce the media appeals tribunal as an alternative to the existing self-regulatory mechanisms. These include the claim that print media operates like a 'protection racket' and that ownership of commercial publications is still concentrated in the hands of whites. The ANC- led Government's desire to interfere with media freedom is nothing but an efford to hide the rampant looting of the state by corrupt officials and highly placed individuals. It has to be remembered that the Polokwane Brigade went to the ANC conference in 2007 to deal with three particular enemies, i.e. Thabo Mbeki, the now defunct Scopions and the media which fearlessly exposed goverment shenanigans. They managed to unseat Mbeki and slay the scorpions. 3 years later, they circle the 3rd victim, the media, in an efford to make them toothless conveyors of censored information. To tell the truth, ANC has a history of disregarding public opinion. It is public knowledge that many people are against the ANC media tribunal 'shit'! It is through the media that the masses know that service delivery comes to them in a tickle because the 'fat cats are feeding'. Sadly the poor masses are left to scramble for limited resources and when they protest they are shot at with tear gas or rubber bullets. In my view, if we fail to fight for the sacrosanct right to mirror society and speak truth to po power, we are going the Zimbabwean route by hook or by crook!
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