Economic Freedom Fighters 1st National People's Assembly Discussion Documents:

People's Power for Economic Freedom

Media, Ideology and the Battle of Ideas

INTRODUCTION

1. South African society has been deeply shaped by colonial capitalism, and as a result access to information is structured by patterns of colonial capitalist ownership and privilege. Who knows what, for what purposes continues to be largely determined by who owns what or has how much access to power and resources

2. The colonial capitalist state has been essentially a state that rules in the interests of white culture, white capital and white domination. It had been designed to perpetuate the exploitation of the black majority, relegating them as much as possible as a cheap and easily disposable labour

3. Ideological apparatuses of the colonial capitalist society pursued the direct interpolation of blacks as precisely subjects of racial exploitation; the education system, the media, the urban and rural family, as well as religious organisations. Blacks were socialised to hate themselves, not to believe in themselves, both as a group and as individuals. Worst of all, blacks were socialised to accept their position as inferior and to "fear a world without whites" as Fanon rightly says.

4. Since the birth of the post-1994 state, the African Revolution has been trapped by ideological inadequacies predicted by Fanon in the Wretched of the Earth about an inability and lack of appreciation of the economic critique of the colonial situation by liberation movement. These movements lack economic knowledge of their own country, but it has since produced an intellectual dependency from without the movement which at the moment finds fortitude in the neo-liberal mould of problem solving

5. For a revolution to happen, a revolutionary movement must provide revolutionary ideology and cogent revolutionary program to the many rebellions, revolts and protests of the oppressed. Lenin exhorted that without revolutionary theory (information and program) revolution is impossible. Such an ideological and programmatic alternative must be rooted in the economic critique of the colonial situation and its offspring post-colonial state

6. From the family, the religious formations, education system to the traditional media, revolutionary ideology must penetrate and counteract the statuesque by mobilising society on a revolutionary program. This document is therefore about how the EFF can penetrate ideological apparatuses with revolutionary ideology and mobilise for the revolutionary program of economic freedom in our lifetime as expressed in the Founding Manifesto.

7. South Africa faces the culminating point of colonial capitalism expressed in its intended two-ness: a white supremacist capitalist extraction and exploitation on one hand. As well as a black comprador beneficiation and dilution of the African revolution on the other. Colonial capitalist extraction and exploitation has finally succeeded in gaining an organised black class to secure, manage and provide legitimacy for its affairs.

8. The battle of the African Revolutionary is much more difficult as the battle lines are not as clear cut. Nonetheless, the struggle must rage on, even more robustly than ever before. The ideas of the revolutionary movement must ultimately gain hegemony against the ruling ideas for a real transformation of society to take place. The oppresses must speak and must hear themselves - this is the task at hand, how do we as EFF spread the ideas of economic freedom whose ultimate result must be the oppressed telling their story; for EFF is the first expression of that story?

9. How do we achieve this? What are the obstacles to the oppressed and their emancipatory ideas speaking, about the future they want, the past they have and the present that is upon them?

THE NATURE OF MEDIA IN SOUTH AFRICAN

10. The story of the oppressed speaking begins with a key analysis of the South African media; the nature of the media, its ownership and content. As things stand, traditional media in South Africa is inaccessible to the oppressed, yet it survives through their audience participation, precisely to provide the deadly opium sterilising revolutionary ideas in them.

11. Traditional media can be categorised into three; Broadcast Media which includes television and radio; Print Media which describes newspapers, magazines and knock-and-drop; New Media which includes Internet and Mobile phone media. All these may either be public, commercial or community based.

12. South African law guarantees media freedom, freedom of speech and access of information as key constitutional prerogatives. Legislative framework has been put into place by the post-apartheid state enacts these prerogatives, from the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICSA) as per ICASA Act of 2000, the Access to Information Act of 2000, Media Development and Diversity Agency (MDDA) Act of 2002, to the Electronic Communications Act of 2005.

13. The legislative framework establishes ICASA to regulate broadcasting, telecommunication and postal services in the public interest. ICASA then acts within the limits of policy and law, prescribes regulations, enacts measurable license terms and conditions, monitors compliance to the license conditions and manages frequency spectrum.

14. South African law allows print media self-regulation through the Press Ombudsman. Print media sets up the Press Council, Ombudsman and Appeals Panel to handle disputes between the public and the print media (newspapers and magazines).

15. MDDA emerges out of the need to transform the media following post-apartheid transition to enable media development and its diversification. MDDA, in partnership with the major print and broadcast media industry, is supposed to help create an enabling environment for media development and diversity that is conducive to public discourse and which reflects the needs and aspirations of South Africans.

16. Guided by the principle of editorial independence, media in South Africa enjoys relative freedom. However, this does not make the newsrooms immune from control directly or indirectly by those in power, both state and private capital. Current legislation promotes diversity in all levels of the media; its management, ownership, and information sources to make room for diverse views.

17. There are indeed deep problems beginning with the language access of the media. The English language remains the predominant language of discourse particularly in print media and television. Radio, which has the largest reach of all mediums in South Africa and in many ways precisely because of that, is the most diverse in terms of language reach as it caters for all official languages.

18. According to the All Media and Products Survey (AMPS) for 2012 of the South African Audience Research Foundation (SAASF) Radio currently reaches 93.1% of the adult population (aged 15+) over a seven-day period, with listeners numbering 32,522-million. Weekly listening to total commercial radio stands at 90.2%, with 31,506-million listeners in total. Total community radio reaches 25.8% of the adult population (15+) over the course of the average week, with listeners pegged at 9,016-million.

19. The same report shows that in 2013 December, Television stood at a weekly viewership of 91.7%, reaching 32,022-million adult South Africans (aged 15+) each week. Viewing of community TV reaches 8.6% of the adult population (2,990-million viewers) each week.

20. Pay TV is also showing significant growth; DStv weekly reach stands at 26.3%, with 9.198-million viewers. The satellite platform has also seen growth across both urban and rural areas. With the exclusion of the terrestrial channels, DStv's weekly reach is 25.1% and Top TV is at 1.6% reach in an average week, with 551 000 viewers.

21. Cinema continues to trend down in total, although the significant declines seen in the previous AMPS release have been halted. Cinema reach in South Africa stands at 17.9 % with the 2013 reports of AMPS, whereas at the end of 2012 it reached 6,379-million, or 18.3% of the adult population.

22. The AMPS 2012 reports print media as reaching 65.6% of the adult population, with an average issue readership of 22,925-million. The report demonstrates the stability of print media over a two year period, and at times records growth;

23. This means South Africa's newspaper market continues to hold its fort despite the digital hurricane that is raging and has destabilised it in other parts of the world. As for Magazines, the research shows that its readership has declined, and this is largely attributed to economic factors as opposed to the digital readership migration.

24. Average issue readership for magazines is 48.8%, down from 50.5% with a total readership stands at 17,031-million.

MEDIA OWNERSHIP AND CONTROL

Capitalism seeks to turn everything into a commodity, even a thing as noble as access to a religious sermon

25. The circulation of information, public discourse and criticism, including the broadcast of shows (entertainment or sports) is not immune to the capitalist pursuit for profit. Significant media is under ownership and control, either of the state or private capital. This is a factor in understanding what interests would be prioritised in which stories are told, how they are told, for how long, at what time, for what audience and income group.

26. SABC is dominant in ownership and control of the radio industry, accounting for 41.6% of the total radio audience in the country. SABC boasts 18 public radio stations, divided into 15 public broadcasting service (PBS) stations and 3 public commercial services (PCS) stations, covering all official languages.

27. There are additional 13 private commercial radio stations which are regional or provincial stations; they have 16.5% of the total radio adult audience. There is also the World space which is a subscription satellite radio service offering a limited number of encrypted channels. There are also 87 functional community radio stations.

28. Television is also dominated by the SABC. The SABC has 3 public terrestrial television channels (SABC1, 2 and 3) with total viewership accounting for 69.3% of the total television audience. SABC 1: 79.8% (27,867-million adult viewers, aged 15+). SABC 2: 71.6%, with 25,007-million adult viewers. SABC 3: 58.4% (20,389-million viewers). e.tv has grown its reach from 67.4% previously to 68.6% currently (23,981-million viewers). M-Net main channel: 6.8% (2,384-million). Viewing of DStv is 27.5% (9,598-million) and Total Top TV: stable on 1.5% (513 000 viewers).

29. Private commercial television station's HDI ownership sits on an average of 64.4% per television station. The positive changes in ownership stakes in the broadcasting industry may be due to the work of the then Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) (established in terms of the Independent Broadcasting Authority Act of 1993) and ICASA's regulatory and licensing interventions. One of the criteria to qualify for licensing enshrined in the IBA Act and now Electronic Communications Act is ownership by HDIs, limitations on foreign ownership to 20% and that broadcasting is effectively controlled by South Africans.

30. The South African print media is concentrated among four major players: Naspers through its subsidiary Media24; Caxton; and Avusa; and the foreign owns Independent Newspapers.

31. Media 24 is dominant in terms of circulation of newspapers according to the ABC. Regarding ownership, major print media players such as Media24 and Avusa have some degree of HDI ownership. The MDDA report shows that Avusa has at least a 25.5% HDI shareholding, Media 24 has 15%, and Caxton and Independent Newspapers have no HDI participation.

32. Caxton CTP holds 130 identified titles, 89 wholly owned and 41 co-owned, in all representing 28.3% of newspaper titles in the South Africa. Naspers, through its print media subsidiary, Media24 is at 68 titles; the foreign owned Independent Newspapers group owns 28 titles and then Avusa (formerly known as Times Media Limited and then Johnnic Communications) with 23 titles. These titles consist of both commercial and local free newspapers.

STATE COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA

33. Twenty years into democracy, the South African government is restructuring communications significantly both through government internal media as well as through entities like the SABC, MDDA, and ICASA. The creation of the ministry of communications inclusive of GCIS, SABC and MDDA, where Information and Communications Technology and Postal Services are run separately must be read signifying the beginning of state propaganda.

34. A democratic culture must be anchored by freedom of media, just like academic, artistic and religious freedom and independence. The threat is not so much that government runs publications, but its proximity and control over the public broadcaster - the SABC which controls 41.6% of radio audience and 69.3% of television audience in the country.

35. The SABC is by law meant to broadcast in the interest of the public, and not government or ruling parties. It has editorial independence of both the production of news and other content and has an independent board accountable to parliament. However, the SABC has been compromised under the current government as it lacks a credible board and credible management leadership.

36. The SABC has in recent history suppressed adverts that are critical of the government during elections, and refuses to offer live coverage of opposition parties' events. Yet is broadcasts all the major events of the ruling party live in its radio and television platforms.

37. This hostility of the SABC is a threat to the basic tenets of a democratic practice in a democratic South Africa. It is undoing diversity of views, not only in explicit political content but all content that may be critical of the ruling party. Another example is the closing down of the Big Debate just on the eve of 2014 general elections, which was a popular show that managed to expose the failures of government.

38. The SABC is further used to mobilise artists and other entertainers during elections to support and publicly promote the ruling party with the threat that their platforms on SABC may be withdrawn.

39. The SABC as a broadcasting space is therefore shutting down slowly for meaningful democratic contestation and participation. It is deteriorating as the platform of public scrutiny on power and government in particular.

40. Government also uses its advertisement muscle to censor the media, both print and broadcast, particularly community radio, television and print. Papers face the possibility of not receiving government advertisement business if they public critical news on the ruling party and related individuals.

41. There is not clarity on ICASA's status as a chapter nine institution with the mandate to guard democracy. Although chapter nine of the constitution calls for an independent authority to regulate broadcasting, it does not mandate ICASA and interpretations vary. This makes those who run ICASA entrapped in a schizophrenic situation where they are prone to direct governmental influence.

42. Key to the future of Television in South Africa is the shift towards Digital Terrestrial Television which will allow access to a more efficient use of radio frequency spectrum as well as better quality pictures and sound. This shift in South Africa has seen a multimillion investment initiative that tries to provide successful migration into digital television without excluding the poor where Set-Top-Boxes which facilitate the conversion of digital signal into analogue will be provided for by government for 5 million poor households.

43. The state is set to spend billions in distribution of these devices through the Post Office and Universal Service and Access Fund. DTT migration must be closely monitored as mistakes in the distribution of Set-Top-Boxes may leave most of poor families without access to broadcasting service once a switch from analogue to digital television is made.

MEDIA FREEDOM, DIVERSITY AND ACCOUNTABILITY

44. The South African law legislated for independent and "self-regulation" on the part of the media. This is indeed a key development, particularly in the interest of a rising threat against press freedom and independence. Sections of the ruling party have come up with proposals to end ‘self-regulation' on the part of print media arguing that mechanism currently in place are inadequate to hold media accountable and provide for ethically qualitative and professional journalism.

45. Ownership of print media is trapped in an oligarchic situation of the domination of few companies - Media24, Caxton; and Avusa. This too is not in the best interest of democratic contestation and diversity of views. All are dominated by the English language and also control a lot of local print publications. They too have demonstrated hostility at revolutionary ideas, and popular narratives of the poor, like reporting the labour strikes in bad light, with general depiction of workers as unreasonable.

46. This space remains the heaven of the promotion of white supremacist culture in terms of representations of broad aesthetics and life values, the promotion of capitalist consumerist culture and liberal individualism, as well as marginalisation of narratives of popular classes.

47. Media, print in particular, has capacity to conduct public trails of key individuals in society, thus prejudicing them before court processes establish findings. Media is susceptible to manipulation by the wealthy and powerful. However, this is no reason to end ‘self-regulation'. Instead, the Ombudsman and the press council must be strengthened to be accessible to the most vulnerable when they are offended, marginalised and misrepresented.

48. The point is to aggressively fight for diversification in terms of ownership, control and language spread. The development and strengthening of community based papers and the promotion of the emergence of "grassroots" oriented media that capitalises doing journalism not on the basis on popular stories for sales, but giving voice to ordinary and poor communities.

49. In a democracy, independent media is essential and the EFF must protect this space. Constant robust engagement with it must not be confused with the totalitarian demands of centrally micromanaging the editorial decisions about what gets reported.

NEW MEDIA AND THE RISE OF THE GADGET SOCIETY

50. There is no doubt that the key element in the diversification, and at times, democratisation of media is the invention of the mobile phone and tablet in how they facilitate access to interment. Cell phones first break communications barriers in many and different ways, but they give people access to radio and internet; key amongst which is social media.

51. Two developments in the communications sector must therefore be monitored as they set up a massive stage and fundamental shift for the battle and flow of ideas; it is broadband penetration and the spread of mobile gadgets; smart cellphones and tablets. This means traditional media which is by and large less diversified may no longer be central to the spread of ideas with the rise and penetration of internet.

52. A World Wide Worx Mobile Consumer in South Africa survey noted that cellphone usage in South Africa experienced a dramatic shift between 2012 and 2013, with spending on voice dropping from 73% of mobile budget to 65% and spending on data increasing from 12% to 16%. Due to high cost of computers cell phones are seen as the tool to bridge the digital divide between the rich and the poor.

53. The Same survey indicates that mobile phones are the dominant communication technology among low-income users and informal businesses; in 2012, about three quarters of low-income South Africans, in rural and in urban areas, possessed a cell phone.

54. According to InfoDev study on the use of mobile phones in South Africa. Although smartphone penetration in South Africa is increasing at a rapid pace, at about 20% a year. As of mid-2013, about 10 million smartphones have been sold in South Africa. That means that only one in five mobile phones in use in South Africa is a smartphone. About 50% of devices used are Nokia. Samsung and BlackBerry both have 18% market share, while the market share of Apple iPhone is about 1%

55. This is a key statistic as it provides a sense of where things will be in the next few years. With the spread of gadgets we are looking at more than 50% of the Population having a smart phone with internet access in the next three years. By all conservative estimation, depending on the invention of a cheap smartphone and tablet, the 2019 general elections will be fought on the sky.

56. The Broadband Commission, an international body set up by the ITU and UNESCO, released its "The State of Broadband 2013" report and according to the 2013 edition of the UN report, mobile broadband is the fastest growing technology in human history. Mobile broadband subscriptions, which allow users to access the web via smartphones, tablets and WiFi-connected laptops, are growing at a rate of 30% per year. South Africa is performing badly according to this reporting.

57. World Wide Worx and Fuseware have identified Facebook as the leading social network site in South Africa, overtaking mixit with close to 10 million accounts. 87 % of Facebook users are doing so on mobile phones and the research shows that it has become the attraction of all age groups, with youth dementing. Mxit: 7.4-million is at active users, Twitter stands at 5.5-million users, 2go: 1.1-million users, Instagram stands with 680 000 active users, Google+ is at 466 828 active users, YouTube has 1.5-million account views each for the top 200 YouTubers and LinkedIn: 2.7-million registered users. WhatsApp identifies SA is one of its top 10 countries. They have more than 300M monthly active users worldwide that send 11 billion messages and receive 20 billion messages per day.

58. Of these social media sources, focus needs to be put on mass media social network like Facebook, Twitter and Youtube as key elements in the spread of ideas due to their interactivity. This is despite the importance of all message related networks whose significance remains in the spread of message.

59. EFF must occupy social media network aggressively to gain relevance and also influence social discourse. Internet offers alternative means to online broadcasting and publications. EFF radio and television can be pursued online with people accessing it via mobile technology devices.

BATTLE OF IDEAS

The ruling ideas are the ideas of the ruling classes - Marx 1845, German Ideology

60. The ruling ideology today is the ideology of liberal individualism which makes flourish the system of capitalist exploitation. Liberal individualism in the colony functions with a racial character and can be called liberal racial individualism; this is the idea that there is a self, which creates and sustains itself and is the foundation of all knowledge and truth. This self can think the world into being, any world; all they do is think it and it comes into being.

61. Colonial violence however socialises the natives as incapable of such a self-sufficient and autonomous self on the basis that they are black. This makes blacks inadvertently prefer a struggle to attain recognition as self-sufficient autonomous being capable of capitalist enlightenment. The post-colonial nationalist project therefore finds expression in this basic ideology.

62. It follows that the foundation for the battle of ideas starts with reimagining existence itself as material; that the structural conditions produce us as beings that must see themselves in this way for their very reproduction and sustenance of the structural conditions. Revolutions must actively seek to dispel liberal racial individualism which stratifies society and services individuals as volunteers of their own servitude in all aspects of ideological strata

63. The idea of Economic Justice and Freedom points to a socialist future and a society that decentres the individual not as the centre of existence but as part of many centres. Revolution makes possible for an existence that gives priority to the development of structural conditions for the sustenance of life, all of life including human life as part of life.

64. Revolution does this through the socialisation of productive means for a truly free society to exist. As things stand, the post-colonial/apartheid democracy leaves individuals only free to think, speak and associate without the freedom to access of the means to think, speak, associate, and free to movement. To attain such a balance, the property of means of subsistence must be socialised. It must be unpopular to turn water, land, livestock, rivers and all essential means of subsistence into property.

65. Revolution therefore seeks to restore and reconcile humanity to the means of subsistence to make their freedom meaningful. In South Africa revolution necessarily means taking key sectors of the economic (key in that majority of life to revolve and majority of the people depend on them) into the collective ownership by the people. It means the nationalisation of land, mines, banks and monopoly industries for equal redistribution.

66. The path to make this program popular is the task of EFF media and communications which must necessarily come up against the liberal racial individualism in all is forms, in religion, culture, art, education, etc.

67. Fighters must be armed with revolutionary consciousness to take advantage of the basic freedoms of media, expression and access to information to spread the ideas of economic freedom in our lifetime knowing character of the ruling ideology

DEVELOPING EFF MEDIA AND COMMUNICATIONS APPROACH

68. EFF's commitment to democracy must be demonstrated in its critical support of media freedom, particularly against tide of state propaganda department and capture by the ruling elite. EFF must be uncompromising in its further exposition of the capitalist interests that find priority and prominence above and against popular classes and the poor

69. EFF must contest all spaces without leaving any unchallenged; liberal racial individualism will dilute and at most prevent a socialist transformation of economic activity for the free society to emerge. Thus, in religious, art, entertainment, education, media and family spaces; the gospel of economic freedom must be preached with no corner left unchecked.

70. EFF Battle of Ideas in Traditional Media must continue with open engagement with the media and journalism community through statements, opinion pieces, analysis, and examination of popular subjects. EFF must challenge and raise debates as a power itself.

71. The commitment to democracy must particularly find expression in the democratisation and diversification of all of media in terms of languages, ownership and control. Through MDDA, government must be pressured to develop alternative media in broadcasting, print and internet to ensure universal access.

72. Ward structures of the EFF must target all mediums of publications to gain the ear of the ordinary and win them over to the revolution in religious, art, entertainment and other circles. Each Ward Command Team must develop a program of battle of ideas on how to target local radio, print, and other platforms to popularise the ideas of economic freedom. There must be no day that passes without EFF at all levels expressing itself on issues, providing critique, direction or guidance to society.

73. There must be usage of traditional means of spreading ideas: newsletter, sms, even taking platforms on the street corners and market areas to give short open addresses on the ideas of the EFF or challenges facing the community

74. There must be a Multimedia capacity that uses photographic, video and voice recording facilities to generate publications and the spread of EFF ideas. Internet which provides new media platforms must be aggressively used to generate autonomous alternative EFF platforms outside the mainstream; online radio, youtube and live streaming capacity

75. There must be an establishment of a weekly publication whose immediate goal is provision of commentary on current affairs to provide guidance and ideological tools to engage developments. There must be a quarterly journal that aims at substantial publications on the development of policy and ideological tools of analysis.

76. EFF media must generate feeds from the grassroots to give voice to struggles on the ground, not just in written form, but other recordings; photography, video and voice files. The people on the ground must be able to find platform on EFF to tell their stories, struggles and generate more circulation of the revolutionary ideas of economic freedom, with a focus on internet sources

77. An active communication of all EFF is involved in, from parliament and legislatures to international work will help with content further circulation of ideas internally and outside.

CONCLUSION

78. The National People's Assembly must pronounce on the political appropriation of the public broadcaster and mobilise further on a more equitable and balanced reporting at the SABC

79. Further call on the strengthening of self-regulatory capacity of print media, particularly speedily response and resolution of disputes.

80. ICASA must be elevated as a Chapter Nine institution. EFF must put it to parliament for legislation to be reviews in the interest of such an elevation and cogent mandate on the part of ICASA. In addition, time allocation must be included to have a cogent definition of equitable distribution with the exclusion of number of seats an already existing party has in parliament. Other criterion can work; number of provinces being contested, if the party is contesting national elections, as well as number of candidates being fielded for elections. These must be done before the next local government elections

Issued by the EFF, October 27 2014

Click here to sign up to receive our free daily headline email newsletter