Bully Hlaudi has a strong inyanga
ANC COMPLICIT IN SABC CENSORSHIP
WHERE I come from, we believe a person can only afford to be rude and obstinate if (a) he can fight well and until the cows come home, or (b) he has a good inyanga or isangoma in his corner.
However, both scenarios are risky because (c) you might think you’re the best and most enduring fighter and then it turns out that the guy you are picking up cudgels against is a Kung Fu world champion you’ve never heard of, or (d) your adversary’s inyanga or isangoma is better than your own medicine man. Then what will the harvest be?
I am posing this question in light of what is happening at the SABC. The man in charge over there is more obstinate than a mule. He is a real or what in township parlance we would call
He can make Goliath wet his pants. You cannot challenge him. It’s his way or the highway.
On Tuesday, he called an urgent meeting at which he allegedly told staff: “If you are at the SABC, there is leadership, and if the leadership says you must turn right you must turn right. If you turn left, you must get off the bus.”
These are the words of a man who will brook no dissenting opinion. In other words, a bully who will have his own way no matter what.
The state broadcaster is a toxic environment where there are never-ending scandals – everything ranging from fake educational qualifications by those at the top, including Hlaudi Motsoeneng himself, to constant resignations of board members.
But the most ridiculous decision has been Motsoeneng’s ban on the flighting of images of violent protests.
Senior editorial staff members who challenged this decision – economics editor Thandeka Gqubule, RSG executive producer Foeta Krige and senior journalist Suna Venter – have been suspended.
And then on Monday the corporation’s acting group chief executive Jimi Matthews resigned with immediate effect.
In his letter of resignation, which was published online, he said in part: “For months I have compromised the values that I hold dear under the mistaken belief that I could be more effective inside the SABC than outside, passing comment from the sidelines.
“In the process, the prevailing corrosive atmosphere has impacted negatively on my moral judgment and has made me complicit in many decisions which I am not proud of. What is happening at the SABC is wrong and I can no longer be a part of it.”
I was not shocked by his resignation. Matthews is a good newsman and his moral rectitude has never been in question.
His continued stay at the SABC would have disappointed those of us who have known him as a man of principle.
In addition to banning the airing of anti-government protest on all SABC radio stations, Motsoeneng also canned the popular
programme where newspaper editors were frequently invited to comment on issues of the day. He also banned the slots where newspapers were reviewed on television.
History is replete with examples of states that flirted with such totalitarian measures. From Uganda to Zaire, rulers imposed such stringent measures on the flow of information that newspapers in those countries became ridiculous lapdogs that featured pictures of Idi Amin and Mobutu Sese Seko every day.
The apartheid regime was no different. It had a battery of draconian measures that governed the media, keeping a large section of the population in the dark.
People were killed in prisons, some disappeared, never to be heard of again, but these stories were never told, thanks to the repressive media laws.
If the SABC, and by extension the ruling party, can filter the news that reaches us, what’s to stop them from banning or arresting or assaulting journalists who defy such asinine orders? Banning specific editions of newspapers? Closing down newspapers? Establishing censorship boards? Or dispatching masked men in the middle of the night to silence dissent?
It is commendable that the three senior staffers who have been suspended are taking the matter to the Constitutional Court. I do not believe Motsoeneng’s measures will pass constitutional muster.
My concern is that the stench of the apartheid corpse is still very much in the air, yet leaders of the ANC seem oblivious to it.
In fact, these leaders, who themselves were victims of the regime’s repugnant policies, seem prepared to countenance the deployment of tactics that are reminiscent of apartheid, measures that go against the values on which their organisation was founded.
I think the leadership of the ANC is complicit in the censorship that is taking place at the SABC. Hlaudi’s posturing comes from the fact he knows that in his corner there stands a strong inyanga who is going to protect him at all costs. The inyanga from Nkandla and his acolytes.
“The stench of the apartheid corpse is still in the air