Freedom of expression, dignity and hypocrites

It does not need a monotonous lecture from any of the archetypes of the freedom of expression for any South African to see Brett Murray's so called art as nothing but a piece of drawing that is meant to insult, hurt, denigrate and undermine the dignity of President Jacob Zuma as a human being.

The defenders of Murray are overly sensitive to anyone attempting to weigh between the hurtful piece of drawing by Murray on the one hand, and the importance and necessity to preserve and protect the dignity of another human being on the other hand. They want to have us believe that when it comes to the person of President Zuma, the fundamental right to dignity does not apply.

Central and inherent to most rights in the Bill of Rights in our Constitution is the right to dignity. The underlying values of our Constitution presupposes that to fulfil all other rights in the bill of rights, due regard must be given to a person's right to dignity. The right to dignity is by far the most important right in the bill of rights. This is because a person's self- worth, his/ or her inner capacity to respect him/ or herself and others around him, greatly depends on the protection and affirmation of his or her dignity as a human being.

A person's whole being and his or her ability to interact with others of his or her species of human beings is vitally buttressed by the respect and protection of his dignity as an equal member of that species. He or she is able to enjoy life fully as a fundamental part of that species because his dignity is not only protected but acknowledged by his fellow countrymen and women. The respect and protection of his or her dignity makes him or her to attach importance and commitment to the long held values of Ubuntu that say I am because you are.

Even a condemned criminal who has killed, raped and maimed is equally afforded this basic and most important human right to dignity. Interestingly, I have not heard the defenders of the freedom of expression using this right to advocate for the limiting of the right of criminals to dignity.

Instead, they have correctly exposed subhuman conditions like over-crowding, torture, corruption and other conditions that undermine the dignity of criminals in our prisons, ostensibly to protect and promote the dignity of criminals. How hypocritical can they be then when it comes to the person of President Zuma?

We should remember always that inherent to the right not to be treated in an inhuman, cruel and degrading way is the right to dignity. We should be careful against the irresponsible temptation to zealously project the freedom of expression as more important than the right of a person to dignity.

Such an attitude might lead to a slippery slope of a valueless society that attaches significance to those peripheral, self-serving expressions that have nothing to do with building a just, equal and a plural society based on the values of Ubuntu.

In the case of S v Makwanyane - the landmark case that led to the abolishing of the death penalty - dignity of a person is highly regarded as an intrinsic value that promotes the inherent moral status of a human being. In the words of O' Regan J, ‘'the importance of dignity as a founding value of our new Constitution cannot be over-emphasised. Recognising a right to dignity is an acknowledgment of the intrinsic worth of human beings: human beings are entitled to be treated as worthy of respect and concern."

If the highest court in the land could recognise this necessity to treat fellow human beings with dignity, respect and consideration, who are the defenders of the freedom of expression to tell us that they can use false art and electronic media to strip naked and parade President Zuma for the whole world to see? How did they suppose we would feel when a father would be stripped naked and paraded before his children whilst he is trying desperately but helplessly to cover himself from this dehumanising and humiliating experience?

How did they think we would feel when the children of this father are sobbing with hurt and love for their humiliated father who is trying in vain to reassure them in the face of this dehumanising ordeal that everything will be ok? Are we supposed to join the laughter and self-congratulating assurances and praises of the heartless perpetrators of this inhuman and cruel deed? Are we to let them define for our society what are the acceptable moral standards and values to measure the protection of the dignity of a human being?

Surely we cannot allow this barbaric behaviour disguised as a modernising barometer by Murray and other defenders of the freedom of expression to continue. All of us, including the defenders of the freedom of expression (of course only if they still have any semblance of being human left in them), know deep down within our beings and the barest of our souls that such a grotesque piece of drawing is hurtful and deserves condemnation. We know that the fact that this piece of drawing will not only hurt Zuma but his family at large, demands that we condemn it in order to  offer our human solidarity with his family.

South Africa is not like the American democracy because ours is a democracy with a deep sense of human solidarity and is imbued with the values of Ubuntu that make us feel hurt when somebody else is being hurt.

As Africans, we are a people that do not mind our human naivety as part of our democratic culture given our feelings of sympathy and empathy towards our violated fellow human beings. That is the core of who we are as Africans and no amount of modernisation or pretence can take that away from us.

There are many things that I do not approve of by President Zuma. These range from his handling of sensitive matters of national importance like the Mdluli saga that threatens our safety and security; his failure to define for the country a galvanising national vision to unite all South Africans with a common sense of purpose, to his insensitive attitude to the concerns of South Africans regarding the accumulation of wealth, whether perceived or real, by the members of his family.

However, I can never use these differences with him to savage his dignity as a fellow human being. The truth is that instead of exposing the President's weaknesses, inhuman treatment like Murray's drawing can only harden attitudes towards those that disagree with the status quo.

This piece of trash... I mean drawing by Murray will not even get the nation to appreciate and engage seriously on the weaknesses of President Zuma. It will instead serve to widen the divide between the defenders of this drawing who see it as freedom of expression, and those that see it as nothing else but an affront to our African and constitutional value system that promotes human dignity as an integral part of human life.

I hope for the sake of a sensible dialogue on the presidency of President Zuma, that we will not infect our ‘national DNA' with cruel, inhuman and degrading expressions that violate the dignity of any human being, as this piece of drawing has done to the dignity of President Zuma, lest we end up in some more muddier waters.

Mzukisi Makatse is a member of the ANC & ANCYL. He writes in his personal capacity

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