Freedom of expression: DA welcomes Jordan's comments
The DA welcomes the fact that Dr Pallo Jordan has given up on chanting the tired old mantra that the ANC gave us free speech and the access to information that forms part of the freedom of expression. Just plain tired of singing the same old song, he told Nadel's weekend conference (as reported by Business Day - see here) that the ANC had painted itself into a corner and that it was a fool's errand to attempt to pressure the media into a corner.
Columnist Justice Malala, during a robust debate with Jordan last month, roundly told him that it was "really offensive" for the exiled wing of the ANC to claim that they had liberated South Africa and given us our freedom, and that the true story included the fight of the Mass Democratic Movement inside South Africa. The true story of how we got a liberal constitution also includes the work of the only liberal party in South Africa - the DA - during negotiations.
We are all sick and tired of ANC grandstanding when the real motivation behind the latest proposal for a Media Tribunal is to be found perfectly frankly stated in the ANC's own discussion document leading to the NGC resolution: the real problem is leaks from within the ANC to the media. If the problem is factionalism and contestation inside the ANC, then organisational discipline is the answer, not killing the messenger.
As for the Protection of Information Bill: this piece of work tries to turn into law the Minimum Information Security System, a policy adopted by the Mandela Cabinet on 4 December 1996, and under which we live. Secrecy has spread like an oil slick since the ANC took over: anything and everything can be classified, and is classified as we speak. So much for the myth that the ANC brought us access to information, the flip side of the free speech coin.
The reason why it is important that Parliament should rewrite the Protection of Information Bill is that the existing system must be rendered constitutional and reduced to the classification of only legitimate national security matters,especially in the field of intelligence. That exercise is under way.
The media's self-regulatory Ombudsman does, in our view, need improvement. The leaks from the ranks of the ANC are not the only problem - what newspapers do with single-source uncorroborated leaked information sometimes does infringe the reputational rights of the targets. But we believe a self-regulatory system must remain, and the print media can learn from the broadcast sector's BCCSA.
The BCCSA is a self-regulatory body which markets itself robustly (16 849 adverstisements in the first 6 months of this year, and one and a half thousand complaints dealt with per annum). It is not necessary to create a statutory body for print to impose fines. If the members of a self-regulatory body contract with each other, as BCCSA's members do, then their Ombudsman can impose fines. Defamation law remains the real answer - but print can improve its own system. What it does not need is the ANC.
Statement issued by Dene Smuts, MP, Democratic Alliance Shadow Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, November 23 2010
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