Media tribunal 'would be a very dangerous move'

A media tribunal would be an "imposition" on media freedom, press ombudsman Joe Thloloe warned on Friday. "Any system imposed from outside the press itself will be an imposition and in violation of the Constitution," Thloloe told the South African Press Association. He was responding to the African National Congress's (ANC) release of a discussion document, entitled "Media transformation, ownership and diversity", which proposes the setting up of a "Media Appeals Tribunal" to make the media "accountable".

Thloloe said he approached the ANC about a month ago to try to get clarity on talk of a tribunal, which the ANC said would complement the role of the press council and press ombudsman. "I was saying we were getting two different positions. The one, from Polokwane, that there will be an investigation into the possibility of a media tribunal ... But also, another position, coming from the alliance very strongly, is a view that a tribunal should be established. I went there to ask, where are we standing, is there going to be in an investigation or is it [the tribunal] going ahead? [I was told] they are going to recommend that Parliament will do an investigation," said Thloloe. He said he would be "happy" to participate in an investigation but expressed doubts about its intentions. "We are very happy to participate in any investigation, but what worries us are the people who have already made up their minds."

The ANC document criticised the press ombudsman, saying he could not be objective. The document states: "The mere fact that the press ombudsman is from the media ranks, a former journalist, and is not an independent person who looks at the media from the layman's perspective, poses an inherent bias towards the media with all interpretations favourable to the institution and the other party just has to understand and accept the media way, which is grossly unfair and unjust."

But Thloloe, a veteran journalist with almost 50 years' experience, said the self-regulatory system of the press ombudsman had been copied from various other systems around the world. "The press ombudsman's office and the press council are functioning well ... it doesn't need anything else," he said. The ANC discussion document did not really further "flesh out the proposal" of a media tribunal, he added. "It's a very strange document ... The arguments they have raised so far are not convincing; we can't take it further because they haven't fleshed out the proposal."

South African National Editors' Forum (Sanef) chairperson Mondli Makhanya on Friday said Sanef would request a meeting with the ANC to have a "decent conversation" about media freedom. "There seems to be a huge gulf that has developed between the ANC and the media. We want to sit down with them and a have a decent conversation," Makhanya told Sapa. We will be requesting a meeting with the ANC."

ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe on Thursday invited newspaper editors to join the ruling party's debate on setting up a statutory media tribunal. But Makhanya said there was no way Sanef would ever be open to the idea of such a tribunal. "A media tribunal would be unconstitutional and totally against media freedom. It would be a very, very dangerous move."

However, Sanef would be willing to discuss the role of the press ombudsman and press council. Makhanya said the media was not only accountable to the ANC, but to the public, and if the public felt the print media's self-regulation could be improved, it needed to be discussed. "We would be open to a discussion on how it can be strengthened," he said.

The ANC wants an independent statutory body accountable to Parliament to deal with complaints against newspapers, instead of only using the press ombudsman, who currently deals with complaints. Mantashe said on Thursday, according to the Star: "Our invitation is that the media must engage in that debate constructively, throw around ideas and not defend its own turf. "The fact that editors and columns in the newspapers are on the defensive is not going to stop us from having that discussion. It's up to them if they want to contribute to that debate, and actually to influence it. It is up to them, if they think they are on the defensive and must take a laager approach to that discussion, they are doing that at their own peril," said Mantashe.

Source: Mail & Guardian

Zuma requests report on 'bullying bodyguards'

President Jacob Zuma has requested a report from the South African Police Service on an incident between his protection unit and an Eyewitness News reporter, his office said on Wednesday.

Earlier, it was reported that 702 Eyewitness News reporter Tshepo Lesole was grabbed by bodyguards and forced to delete pictures he had taken while Zuma was visiting the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital on Tuesday. "The Presidency recognises the need for the media to be able to freely and effectively cover the president's activities. "They should be able to exercise their constitutional rights unhindered," Zuma's spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, said in a statement. "The Presidency also recognises that the PPU [presidential protection unit] has a responsibility to guarantee the president's safety at all times, and to take all reasonable and necessary measures to ensure his security is not compromised."

Magwenya said Zuma's protection was the responsibility of the SAPS, and the Presidency played "no direct role in this function". He said the Presidency was discussing a proposal for a workshop between the presidential protection unit and the media with the SAPS.

The Professional Journalists' Association (PJA) on Wednesday said the actions of Zuma's bodyguards, in forcing a journalist to delete pictures of the presidential cavalcade, harked back to apartheid-era "thuggery and censorship". "As a member of the press, Lesole is fully entitled to take pictures of the presidential cavalcade [as is any member of the public]. That he was detained for doing so, and forced to delete the images, harks back to apartheid-era thuggery and censorship," said the newly formed PJA. It called on the police, whether they were VIP units or not, to respect the rights of working journalists, and wanted the bodyguards to be held accountable.

The South African National Editors' Forum (Sanef) said it was saddened that the incident came several weeks after meetings with the minister, deputy minister and national commissioner of police to discuss police harassment of journalists. Sanef had received strong commitments that police would not hamper journalists in doing their work, with police National Commissioner Bheki Cele saying: "We must allow both parties [media and the police] to do their work without any problems."

In another incident, Mail & Guardian journalists were briefly detained outside Zuma's house on Wednesday. "If the detention of M&G journalists outside President Zuma's house was an isolated incident, we might be prepared to chalk it up to an inexperienced police officer simply being overzealous," said M&G editor Nic Dawes, "but unfortunately this kind of conduct is now becoming common, and it is clearly designed to intimidate journalists who are simply working to do their constitutionally mandated duty". "The message appears to be coming from senior officials that so-called security concerns justify riding roughshod over basic rights. We will be raising this issue vigorously through Sanef, as well as with the Presidency, and the police."

Democratic Alliance leader Helen Zille, meanwhile, has asked President Jacob Zuma for an urgent meeting to discuss the issue of so-called "blue-light bullies". She called on Zuma to "rein in his bullies". Last month, when University of Cape Town student Chumani Maxwele was arrested at gunpoint and detained for gesturing at Zuma's convoy, the Presidency said the incident had nothing to with it. It said it was a matter to be taken up with the VIP protection services. "President Zuma cannot hide behind this excuse again. He, and no one else, is accountable for the behaviour of his bodyguards," Zille said. He should acknowledge what had happened, take responsibility for it and do something about it. Zille said she has written to Zuma requesting an urgent meeting to discuss the matter.

Source: Mail & Guardian