Remarks by President Jacob Zuma on the Occasion of the Commemoration of Black Wednesday, 19 October 1977, and Celebration of the 20 Years of Media Freedom and Freedom of Expression, Pretoria

19 October 2014

Ministers, Deputy Ministers,

Senior officials,

Ladies and gentlemen of the media,

Good day and thank you for joining us today.

We have gathered on a historic day in our history. On Wednesday, October 19th 1977, the apartheid regime clamped down on the media, banning two newspapers, The World and the Weekend World and arresting the editor and other brave journalists who stood up to the regime.

The clampdown on the media took place during a reign of terror that enveloped this country in the wake of the 1976 student uprising. 

Our people were not intimidated. The repression reinforced the resolve of the oppressed that there was no turning back, and that the struggle had to continue.

You will recall as well that this was also during the tragic period of the murder of Black Consciousness Movement leader, Steve Biko and the banning of  political and community organisations.

The 1977 clampdown also took place during the time when one of the martyrs of our struggle for liberation, Solomon Kalushi Mahlangu, together with his comrade, Johannes Motloung were detained after being intercepted by police. 

Almost twenty days after Black Wednesday, on 07 November 1977, the Solomon Mahlangu trial began in terms of the Terrorism Act, and he was sentenced to death on 02 March 1978, to be hanged the following year. 

This was indeed one of the darkest periods in our history.

The reflection about the painful episodes that shaped our history in the long stretch of our journey to freedom is impossible to avoid.

This year, we remember these episodes more, given that we are marking 20 years since the attainment of freedom and democracy in our country.

To create a solid foundation for our democracy, we produced a progressive Constitution as the supreme law of the land.

The Constitution is one of the greatest achievements of our nation.

Our progressive Constitution enshrines freedom of expression, the media and other fundamental freedoms and rights. 

In marking  20 years of freedom we are also celebrating all aspects of the Constitution, including Clause 16, which enshrines freedom of expression.

In terms of our Constitution, freedom of expression includes the following:

(a) freedom of the press and other media; 

(b) freedom to receive or impart information or ideas; 

(c) freedom of artistic creativity; and 

(d) academic freedom and freedom of scientific research. 

In celebrating this clause this year, we recall many freedom fighters, including journalists, who used their craft to further the struggle for freedom and justice in our country. They did this in the face of immense brutality and even possible death.

We salute all media stalwarts, some of whom are no more, such as Zwelakhe Sisulu, Percy Qoboza, the Drum journalists including Henry Nxumalo, Nat Nakasa and many others. 

We also acknowledge those journalists who braved bullets and harassment during the horrible state-sponsored violence of the 1980s.

We remember Calvin Thusago, an SABC reporter who was stabbed to death by a mob in Sharpeville on 23 April 1993 while on duty. 

We also remember photographer Ken Oosterbrook who was shot dead in Thokoza on the 18th April 1994, just a few days before the first national general elections. 

Indeed, our country has come a long way.

In his last editorial before he was detained for the second time in the 1980s, the late editor of the New Nation, Zwelakhe Sisulu said in December 1986:

"Autocratic regimes will come and go, but the people's desire to be free and determine their own future is constant and permanent and cannot be trammelled by even the greatest force".

And it happened. We are now free.

Regardless of challenges, South Africa has done well in a short space of time.  

We congratulate and thank all members of the media who have contributed to the consolidation of democracy and the building of a new united, non-racial, non-sexist and prosperous South Africa in the past 20 years.

Today we reaffirm our commitment to the ideals of freedom, particularly freedom of expression in this country. 

When our people take to the streets to express their views about anything, we respect this right because scores of our people went to jail or were killed fighting for the right to express themselves.

The only appeal we make, is that this right must be exercised peacefully. 

The violent protest marches are therefore unnecessary as the country is run by a government with leaders who fought for these rights and who would never deny our people the right to say what they think.

Ladies and gentlemen,

The country's transformation project is far from complete. We are continuing with our nation building and social cohesion tasks.

Also high up on the agenda remain economic transformation and the promotion of economic growth and job creation, so that we can make progress in fighting poverty and unemployment.

We are guided by the National Development Plan Vision 2030 in our work.

We launched Operation Phakisa recently, a big fast results methodology that we have learned from Malaysia. 

We will implement it in the economy and also in social services such as health and education, to speed up positive results as called for in the National Development Plan. 

Our Industrial Policy Action Plan and the National Infrastructure Plan also continue to be powerful weapons in the push for the five percent economic growth target by 2019.

We look forward to continuing engagement with the media as we continue our reconstruction and development tasks.

We are establishing a Presidential Communication and Media Working Group which should be able to provide a platform for the sharing of ideas between government and the sector on any issue.

There is a lot we can discuss, from media diversity and transformation to how the media industry can contribute to the attainment of the five percent growth target by 2019. 

In this landmark year of 20 Years of Freedom, let us rededicate ourselves to working together to promote the right of the public to information.

Thank you for joining us.

Issued by the Presidency, October 19 2014

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