SABC protest ban is illogical and dangerous

The SABC must ban visuals of people kissing to curb promiscuity. In SABC movies and soapies, nobody must be seen taking showers because viewers will believe it can prevent Aids. The SABC must not show visuals of speeding cars because it will influence drivers to speed.

No scientific study has shown a correlation between showing visuals of violent protests and the acceleration of violent protests.

Authoritarian rulers censor the media. It happened under apartheid, in Zimbabwe under Robert Mugabe, in Chile under Augusto Pinochet, in Germany under Adolf Hitler, in Libya under Muammar Gaddafi and in Iraq under Saddam Hussein.

The imperialists also censored the media, especially during the wars of African dispossession.

The United States banned visuals of Guantanamo Bay prison. During the Vietnamese war, bodies of US marines arrived home at midnight to prevent the media from seeing the corpses. Despite several calls from South Africa’s government for people to desist from using violence, arson is on the increase. Our communities are leaderless. The ANC under President Jacob Zuma has abdicated its vanguard role, but Zuma was correct when he said that “when the ANC is sick, the entire nation is sick”.

How will SABC censorship help the ANC to deal with umshini wami rhetoric?

Across all political parties and civil society, we lack leadership. Julius Malema disrespected Thabo Mbeki and now the Economic Freedom Front is showing the president the middle finger. If Malema is rude, it is because he is a legacy of the current presidential incumbent.

The ANC must stop lying to itself and think censorship can cure this violent situation.

Our society is suffering from diarrhoea but the SABC is prescribing cough mixture. —