Freedom to speak
The day marking South Africa’s most celebrated event to date, our first non-racial elections, was marked in Grahamstown 23 years later by empty roads, empty bottles and – for those who took to their television screens – what a growing majority have come to regard as empty promises.
In his speech at Manguzi, KwaZulu-Natal, President Jacob Zuma began by recalling our country’s racist past. Quoting from a 1953 article by ANC leader Selope Thema, he ended that section with “Economically [the black man] was kept in a state of abject poverty.”
Almost as ironic for many people living in Grahamstown, and the Eastern Cape, must have been the President’s celebration in his speech of the Constitution, the Chapter 9 institutions and people’s access to water, sanitation, housing, electricity, roads, health care and education.
He also promised radical economic transformation, land and affirmative action in employment.
As the ramifications of our ratings downgrade start to trickle down, the President reassured us that South Africa continues to be a popular destination for international conferences, with the World Economic Forum meeting here next week.
Meanwhile, at the Freedom Day rally organised by the newly formed Freedom Movement, live-streamed by eNCA, DA leader Mmusi Maimane called for Zuma to step down. Speaking of the formation of a coalition, he said it was essential for an alliance to safeguard South Africa’s constitution among other things.
The most extraordinary news was made known by the Hawks yesterday of an alleged plot by an organisation whose name could come from a bad paperback thriller – the AntiState Capture Death Squad Alliance.
“The communication intercepted by the investigators included various letters which were sent to selected companies to donate money totalling R140 million to fund the alleged clandestine operation,” Hawks spokesperson Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi was quoted saying in the SA News media release.
During the course of this investigation another organisation, with the extraordinary name of Anti-White Monopoly Capitalists Regime (AWMCG) surfaced. This, the GCIS says, will necessitate a two-pronged investigative approach.
World Press Freedom Day is celebrated on 3 May. Proclaimed by the UN General Assembly in 1993 this was a response to a call by African journalists who in 1991 produced the landmark Windhoek Declaration on media pluralism and independence.
In a ranking on a world map of 1-5, the organisation Reporters sans Frontieres places South Africa at 2 – along with Namibia, Botswana, the US, Canada, Australia, France, Spain and Britain among others.
It was an honour for Grocott’s Mail to witness last Saturday the extraordinary respect accorded to the late Eric Mapara, who contributed so much to Grahamstown and the running community. Rest in peace, Eric Mapara.