Open letter to Alison Bethel-McKenzie and the International Press Institute

Dear Ms Bethel-McKenzie,

Let me state from the onset that I neither know you, nor have I read or heard about you or your organisations' contribution to South Africa's struggle for human rights, freedom and dignity. I therefore assume that both you and I enter the media debate in SA merely as a democrats and nothing more.

As an ordinary South African living in one of the fairly rural parts of the land, I wish to place it before you that in my years of consuming media products, I have come to an unfortunate conclusion that the mainstream press media does not represent nor reflect my social, political and economic reality. I find it to be aloof and at worst, totally irrelevant, and if you follow our public discourse closely, you would also note that I'm not the only citizen who shares such a view.

Another ordinary citizen like me noted elsewhere that: "This debate must be guided by some truths that we can't ignore unless if we suffer from denialism. The first one is that we live in a country that has a constitution which is a reflection of the will of the people. I am well aware that some struggle with this reality for a number of reasons. One of the reasons is the fact that there is a cluster in our society that does not identify with the will of the majorities who influenced the successful crafting of the constitution. This is the very same segment that disagrees with any proposal that is put on the table by either our government or a ruling party. This is understandable and I am sure we all can live with it.

The complexity of the matter is when the very same cluster happens to control our media purely because of shareholdership status. This surely compromises media objectivity because they now must please their shareholders as it is in any business. No one can therefore claim that our media really reflects or represents the views of the people as it only reflects the views of the cluster that controls media through ownership.

Despite this reality, the ANC has tabled a number of mechanisms to protect the integrity of our media. Most of these were enacted and have since become acts that defend the existence on media in SA. Some of these are the Broadcasting Act of 1999, Independent Communications Authority of South Africa Act of 2000, Access to Information Act of 2000, Media Development and Diversity Agency Act of 2002, Electronic Communications Act of 2005, Promotion of Administrative Justice Act including Chapter 9 of the Constitution which sets up institutions to support democracy.

Those who don't suffer from the syndrome of denialism will agree that all of these were tabled by the ANC and not any of the opposition parties. Not a single party or organisation in this country has staged a legal challenge to any of these.

It is from all of these facts that one can draw a conclusion that those who are against the formation of media tribunal do that because they belong to one of these clusters that oppose anything simple because it compromises their revenue streams. The same people define media freedom the way that suits their needs and ignore all truths about what media freedom truly is. They want everyone to accept that they are the only ones who can define it better and they reject all suggestions from the public. This is how we can all rest assured that the tribunal will be established because the view of ordinary people will be filtered into decision making." (Sicelo Mncwango) It is from this context that the ongoing debate around the media should be understood.

But the aim of this correspondence is not about my (im)personal experience with the press media, but a response to the letter you penned to President Jacob Zuma, published across various media on the 12 August 2010.

Jacob Zuma has a long history of fighting for human rights and the freedoms of which South Africans enjoy today. His biography reads thus: "He was born in a part of South Africa now known as KwaZulu Natal (once Zululand) and became politically active at a young age. Influenced by a trade unionist family member, Zuma joined the ANC, a political party that stood against the country's practice of apartheid-or racial segregation-and other discriminatory policies in the late 1950s. Also around this time, the ANC and other opposition groups were banned by the government so Zuma had to keep his membership secret.

Forced to go underground, the ANC, which had long been a nonviolent group, developed a militant wing in the early 1960s. Known as Umkhonto we Sizwe, the new militant group undertook acts of sabotage against the government. Zuma joined the group in 1962 and was arrested the next year with 45 other members and soon was convicted of conspiracy. Sentenced to 10 years in prison, he served his time in the infamous Robben Island prison where Nelson Mandela, the country's future president, was also imprisoned for many years.

After his release in 1973, Zuma continued working for the ANC and played an essential role in building the underground organization's infrastructure in KwaZulu Natal. Two years later, he went into exile living in several different African nations. Zuma remained dedicated to the ANC and joined the organization's National Executive Committee in 1977. Holding a number of ANC posts over the next decade, he established a reputation as loyal and hard working."

On the other hand, the ANC has produced within its ranks an incomparable list of magnanimous human rights activists and freedom fighters, many of whom paid the highest price of death in a struggle for the future of millions and millions of ordinary South Africans like me.

I have no doubt that the names of J L Dube (Dr),  S M Makgatho, Z R Mahabane, J T Gumede, Pixley ka Isaka Seme,  A B Xuma (Dr),  J S Moroka (Dr),  Chief A J Lutuli, O R Tambo, N R Mandela, Sol T Plaatje, H L Bud M'belle, S Msane, T D Mweli Skota, E J Khaile, Rev E Mdolomba, Rev J Calata,  W Sisulu, D Nokwe, A Nzo, and many others would ring a bell to you. These are the leaders who crafted and molded the traditions, values, beliefs and principles of the ANC as we know it today.

It would thus not be impolite to state that if anything, you and your organisation should be learning about the essence of freedom from people like Jacob Zuma and the ANC as a party. To put it in the language of my generation, theses icons of our freedom have "been there, done that and got a t-shirt".

I therefore wish to assure you that this a moment when all ordinary and high profile South Africans are trying to have an honest debate around what responsibilities freedom and democracy dictate upon all of us. It is thus not a prudent time for unsolicited interventions, moreso from "foreign" agents. You would probably recall that we have just survived a painful historical period wherein foreigners came to our shores and imposed their political, social and economic ideologies upon the masses.

It is my firm belief that there is no subject that cannot be debated in a democracy, and if you and your organisation subscribe to that notion, I would hasten to conclude that you might just be the worst enemy of that which you claim to champion: freedom of expression. Your purported bias intervention casts a dark shadow upon the unbearable conditions entrapping millions of ordinary South Africans.

In parting, I remain confident that a time would come when South Africans would invite your opinions and inputs around the matter, precisely because we are neither blind nor ignorant to the role that the international community played in our struggle. As things stand today, we are a democratic country and well capable of conducting mature, honest, vibrant and robust debates among ourselves. My humble request would be for you and your organisation to provide us with such space.

Regards,

Setumo Stone

Setumo Stone is an "organic" writer, social commentator and youth activist.

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