Issued by African National Congress - Parliament
15 May 2003
Madam Speaker,
I rise to support, on behalf of the African National Congress, the budget of the GCIS. I am also speaking on this podium for the last time in my capacity as the chairperson of the portfolio committee on communications and as a member of parliament. I have submitted my letter of resignation to the Speaker and to the whippery of my organization, the ANC. I believe that this is an appropriate juncture at which to make the transition from the public sector to the private sector. I have been a member of parliament since 1994 and I will forever value the experience I have gained, and the honour I have had to be able to contribute in the building of such a vibrantly democratic institution, such as our Parliament.
Whilst a lot still needs to be done to create greater access to Parliament for all South Africans, especially those in rural communities; I am proud to have been part of a hardworking and committed team to make a difference and bring about fundamental changes to the lives of our people.
It is with regret that I will no longer be a part of this dedicated collective of devoted cadres of our people; but it is also with eagerness and anticipation that I look forward to a new challenge and to continue making a difference for a better life for all in my new position.
I thank you all for the camaraderie you have shown me over the years and for everything you have contributed to my growth and development. In this chamber we have shared moments of friendship and animosity, joy and sadness, elation and disappointment; but mostly we have shared moments of victory. We have sung and toyi-toyied. Every debate we have had in this House and every piece of legislation we have passed through this House, have helped to create a better life for all South Africans.
What we have been busy doing here has been to push back the frontiers of poverty. I am very proud to have been a part of such a team, and wherever I go, I have no doubt that we will continue to work together; as we have a shared common goal, and that is the deliverance of a democratic, non-racial, non-sexist and prosperous South Africa. For the record, let me state that I am not leaving politics, nor am I being forced, for whatsoever reason, to quit Parliament. My experience here has been invaluable and I will be forever grateful for what I have learnt from it and the humility I have gained through it.
However, having been here since the first sitting of our democratic Parliament in 1994, the decision to leave, nearly 10 years on, comes simply in the normal cause of reflection upon one's life and seeking new challenges and needing to contribute to transformation in another arena.
We all have the responsibility to build a photo album which future generations can page through, reflect upon, learn from and be inspired by. Future generations will fill in the gaps left by our photo images; and they might sometimes wonder why certain decisions had been taken. It is therefore our responsibility to explain and simplify our communications and messages for the benefit of generations to come. GCIS, under the capable leadership of its CEO Joel Netshitenzhe, and guided by the Minister in the Presidency, comrade Essop Pahad, has made great strides in simplifying such messages and building photo images of our own experience as a democracy.
It is important that our portfolio committee, in particular, continue to raise issues pertaining to the imagery captured by photographers, by reporters in newspapers, as well as the coverage on radio and television. We should not shy away from constructive criticism, nor should we hesitate to criticize where criticism is necessary. Constructive criticism can help and guide in nation building. It can be an important yardstick of a healthy democracy. That is the lesson I have learned from being in the communications industry over the past 23 years.
Like the epigram goes - a picture paints a thousand words. Now the word Oceania, might ring a bell. If you are a soccer fan it might remind you of the evaporation of a dream; the hosting of the 2006 Soccer World Cup by South Africa. A certain Mr. Dempsey, by abstaining, snatched the hopes of the entire African continent to host this prestigious event for the first time in the history of the beautiful game. As we, once more, attempt to host the World Cup, we should again be mindful of the world around us.
We might not know what happened in the Dempsey saga, but please allow me to suggest an explanation. His attitude to the African continent was no different from that of his colonial ancestors to the indigenous peoples of the Oceania.
The leader of the opposition, Honourable Tony Leon displays, from time to time, a similar attitude to the continent of Africa as that of Dempsey.
For example, his selective quotations and distortions of the President's address to the All-Africa Editors Conference, convened by SANEF, is an attempt to sustain the negative coverage of the African continent. If you read the President's speech at this conference, there was nothing that suggests, as Mr. Tony Leon wrote in the Cape Times, that the President was taking a "swipe at his critics, and questions their intellect".
The President's speech; to Mr. Tony Leon's dismay, was welcomed by the participants. The speech was a responsive way to challenge African journalists and editors to improve the quality of journalism on our continent.
The President suggesting that the South African media has a responsibility to report Africa to the South Africans, carrying out this responsibility as Africans". He further said that complaints from the other African journalists about the distorted reporting of the SABC about their own countries does not mean that those reports should not be critical, but rather that they must be truthful and not false and uninformed.
Embedded journalism as experienced in the invasion of Iraq is nothing new. You just have to read the writings of Chomsky and others to understand how journalism has been used as part of a military strategy to win the hearts and the minds of people. The overwhelming scale and ruthless execution of the US led military strategy, accompanied by the embedded propaganda, no doubt helped to achieve their objectives. What the Business Week termed the 'computer combat' and the biased news bulletins will surely make Goebels celebrate, in his hell-hole, the implementation of his doctrine of naked propaganda.
What embedded journalism means to Sky, the BBC and CNN is nothing other than the furtherance of their countries' national interests as defined by the military commanders who led the invasion of Iraq. African journalists must not simply follow the editorial line of the CNNs and BBCs. They must be proud to be African, celebrate the self-worth of the African people and must have no hesitation about advancing the interests of the African continent and her peoples. I recently visited Australia to represent our Parliament in an important discussion hosted by the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association and the World Bank. Our host, Australia, did everything possible to make our visit productive and memorable.
The 10 Parliamentarians forming the CPA Study Group on "Parliament and the Media" agreed to and recommended a reform programme to remove legal and institutional obstacles for the development of a fully informed society through an open and accountable Parliament and a responsible media.
I firmly believe that, if implemented by all members of the CPA, the work done by the Study Group will go a long way in improving the relationship between the legislature and the media.
However, this is not why I am raising the Oceania in this debate.
My experience in Australia, one of the countries of the Oceania, left me somewhat bewildered and desperately searching for answers as I was left to ponder what the plight of our people in South Africa could have been, had the ANC not been formed to challenge apartheid colonialism in our country.
In Perth I could see no more than five indigenous Australians in a group walking the city streets. Moreover, the only ones that I saw were visibly intoxicated and eventually stopped by the police and asked to produce their identification documents. Which reminded me of the days of the pass laws in South Africa.
What has happened to the indigenous people of the Oceania is best reflected by the photography captured in the publication titled " Portraits of Oceania".
In the publication, Brenda L.Croft said something that is universally true especially in the context of a colonially influenced media. "Photography is about memories, both personal and collective; about 'capturing', and 'dislocating'; a particular moment in time. Early photographs purported to be creating an historic record, though many were often falsely staged."
Having been raised within a Methodist/ Wesleyan religious tradition, it came as a shock to me to discover that many of the photographs in the publications are ascribed, by one of the colonial photographers, to the influence of the religious vision of the Wesleyan missionaries. Wesleyan missionaries like a certain George Brown, photographed dehumanising images of the indigenous people of the Oceania, and contributed to the humiliation of a nation.
The degradation of women and the undignified manner in which the colonial photographers captured images of the indigenes, distorted the true-life experiences and stories of the people of the Oceania. The blatant racism and sexist stereotypes and attitudes of the colonial photographers were also duplicated right here on our continent. What we ourselves have raised in many debates in this house about the state of the media in our country is no different from what the 'Portraits of the Oceania' is illustrating.
The people of the Oceania were treated no differently from animals on display in a zoo. Incidentally, the Nazi killings were also motivated by the notion that people are animals, and therefore, there must be continuous conflict to ensure the elimination of the weakest. Like the Saartjie Bartman experience, we were treated in exactly the same way, same attitude, and same racial and sexist stereotypes.
However, the difference with the people of the Oceania and us is that we were able to challenge colonialism before it could destroy us, undress us and take away our dignity. A human being without a soul, without dignity, self-respect and a sense of self-worth is no different from an animal.
We have a responsibility to make a paradigm shift, to fundamentally change the apartheid colonial mindset. I continue to urge the media and the communication sector in our country to do some serious soul searching and to cleanse itself of the remnants and influence of our apartheid and colonial past. We cannot continue to read and see reports about ourselves as if they are compiled by tourists.
This 'tourism journalism', including the denigrating profiles and mercenary portraits of our country and the African continent cannot be left unchallenged.
It is our responsibility to be critical of media coverage that degrades our people and paint distorted pictures about our country and the African continent.
The tendency to prevent us from articulating our criticism of the media is, according to one of the publications' contributors, Michael Hayes, reminiscent of the Senator McCarthy's trials in the US in the 50's. He observes that there is a vocal group who claims that such arguments, under the pretext of political correctness, censor free speech and individual rights.
The leader of the opposition and his followers belong to this small group in our country. It is our responsibility to raise media related issues openly without fear of prejudice or contradiction, or indeed the often-pronounced accusation that we are attempting to suppress media freedoms in our country. This parliament has shown the way. Our discussion and subsequent intervention has led to a healthy and robust debate within the advertising and marketing sector. The sector's recently issued value statement represents a breakthrough in addressing racism and the negative influences of our past. We are confident that the industry has shown a commitment to change. We are also aware that the transformation challenges are huge and require an industry-wide common purpose and united front for change.
Individual marketers, and this includes government, must follow the lead of the consumers and, together with advertising agencies and the media, reach out in search of a South African soul and identity. Our media and communications must capture our values, morals and experiences as Africans living on the great continent of Africa.
For those who might not know, comrade Walter Sisulu called for the freedom of the airwaves in the sixties at the height of apartheid oppression and the suppression of all views different from the racist mindset. We should be grateful that we had leaders like tata Walter Sisulu, who sacrificed everything and helped build a long lasting freedom monument, free of racism and segregation.
I am proud to belong to an organization led by comrade leader, Isithalwande tata Sisulu. The blood of the African National Congress runs through my veins and I will always be dedicated to this organization. One of the first things the ANC taught me; was not to take our people for granted, to respect them and to always be sensitive to their views and needs. It is a lesson that I will cherish and nurture forever.
Tata Sisulu has been a model leader. I had the privilege of experiencing his guidance and humility when I worked, under his leadership, on the 1994 elections campaign. I will always value those moments.
It has been a great honour for me to be a member of this House. I would like to thank my family and my kids for putting up with all the long hours and instability that comes with the work of being a parliamentarian. I would also like to thank everyone for the support and friendship over the years. I wish all of you good health and best wishes for the future.