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SOUTH AFRICA: Zuma Criticised

SOUTH AFRICA: Zuma Criticised Archbishop Tutu speaks out against the former Vice President. Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu has advised former deputy president Jacob Zuma against pursuing the race to become President of the ruling African National Congress ( ANC ), media reports said in Cape Town on August 25th. Tutu said although he was fond of Zuma, he could not condone Zuma's behaviour – admitting to having sex with a woman young enough to be his own daughter, and then taking a shower to prevent HIV/AIDS infection. The Nobel laureate also said Zuma did nothing to calm his supporters who demonstrated outside Johannesburg High Court every day of his trial. The supporters vilified the woman who had accused Zuma of rape and threatened her life, the prelate said. “So far as I can tell, at no time does he seem to have been nonplussed or embarrassed by it. His supporters quite rightly demanded that their champion should be presumed innocent until proven guilty. Yet they did not accord the corresponding right to the plaintiff”, said Tutu. He said that they intimidated her to such an extent that she had to hide her identity and the police feared for her life to such an extent that they provided her with a round‐the‐clock guard. “Our constitution, which the country's President promises to guard and uphold, guarantees to each of us the right to our point of view. I for one would not be able to hold my head high if a person with such supporters were to become my president, someone who did not think it necessary to apologise for engaging in casual sex without taking precautions in a country that is being devastated by this horrendous HIV/AIDS pandemic”, added Tutu. “What sort of example would he be setting?'' the renowned clergyman asked. ( PANA 25/8 ) “Censor” Law Plan South African media groups are vowing to fight draft legalisation that they say would give the state the right to censor some publications and broadcasts. Three leading media watchdog groups say they are “deeply shocked” by a draft amendment to the Film and Publications Act which they claim violates freedom of expression and press freedom guarantees enshrined in South Africa's decade‐old liberal constitution. President Thabo Mbeki ’s cabinet was expected to discuss the draft on August 16th. It would subject print and broadcast media to the same kind of pre‐release vetting for offensive content required for films, video games and other entertainment. Media operate freely and are held accountable for ethical and other lapses by South Africa's press ombudsman, Broadcasting Complaints Commission and an independent communications authority. Media groups say the government removed exemptions to the vetting requirements – enjoyed by print and broadcast media since the apartheid era – without warning and with little time for consultation. The draft will go to a parliamentary committee, which may hold public hearings, before it is submitted to a vote. “If the bill goes through, we will consider further actions”, says Raymond Louw, a councillor with the South African National Editors’ Forum (SANEF). “There will probably be a constitutional challenge”, he added. On a continent where independent journalists are often muzzled or work under onerous restrictions, South Africa has an unusually vibrant and diverse media scene. However, Mr Mbeki has frequently lashed out at media coverage with which he disagrees, often quoting individual publications and journalists at length. In an online “Letter from the President” published on the website of the ruling African National Congress on August 11th, he wrote of the “consistent and seemingly compulsive negative reporting about Africa”. “Perhaps the time has come that … we, as Africans, take responsibility for how our continent is portrayed”, he wrote. Separately the SABC , South Africa's state broadcaster, launched an inquiry into claims that its news division had banned certain commentators critical of the government, including two journalists employed by the newspaper Business Day . ( The Financial Times, London 14/8 ) Gay Marriage : South Africa's cabinet has given its blessing to a bill allowing gay marriage, which would make it the first country in Africa to accord homosexual couples the same rights as their straight counterparts. A government spokesman, Themba Maseko, said on August 24th that the cabinet had approved the bill, which must still be passed by Parliament, after the country's highest court ruled it was unconstitutional to deny gay people the right to marry. ( Reuters 24/8 ) http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Africa Research Bulletin: Political, Social and Cultural Series Wiley

SOUTH AFRICA: Zuma Criticised

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Publisher
Wiley
Copyright
Copyright © 2006 Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company
ISSN
0001-9844
eISSN
1467-825X
DOI
10.1111/j.1467-825X.2006.00504.x
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Abstract

Archbishop Tutu speaks out against the former Vice President. Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu has advised former deputy president Jacob Zuma against pursuing the race to become President of the ruling African National Congress ( ANC ), media reports said in Cape Town on August 25th. Tutu said although he was fond of Zuma, he could not condone Zuma's behaviour – admitting to having sex with a woman young enough to be his own daughter, and then taking a shower to prevent HIV/AIDS infection. The Nobel laureate also said Zuma did nothing to calm his supporters who demonstrated outside Johannesburg High Court every day of his trial. The supporters vilified the woman who had accused Zuma of rape and threatened her life, the prelate said. “So far as I can tell, at no time does he seem to have been nonplussed or embarrassed by it. His supporters quite rightly demanded that their champion should be presumed innocent until proven guilty. Yet they did not accord the corresponding right to the plaintiff”, said Tutu. He said that they intimidated her to such an extent that she had to hide her identity and the police feared for her life to such an extent that they provided her with a round‐the‐clock guard. “Our constitution, which the country's President promises to guard and uphold, guarantees to each of us the right to our point of view. I for one would not be able to hold my head high if a person with such supporters were to become my president, someone who did not think it necessary to apologise for engaging in casual sex without taking precautions in a country that is being devastated by this horrendous HIV/AIDS pandemic”, added Tutu. “What sort of example would he be setting?'' the renowned clergyman asked. ( PANA 25/8 ) “Censor” Law Plan South African media groups are vowing to fight draft legalisation that they say would give the state the right to censor some publications and broadcasts. Three leading media watchdog groups say they are “deeply shocked” by a draft amendment to the Film and Publications Act which they claim violates freedom of expression and press freedom guarantees enshrined in South Africa's decade‐old liberal constitution. President Thabo Mbeki ’s cabinet was expected to discuss the draft on August 16th. It would subject print and broadcast media to the same kind of pre‐release vetting for offensive content required for films, video games and other entertainment. Media operate freely and are held accountable for ethical and other lapses by South Africa's press ombudsman, Broadcasting Complaints Commission and an independent communications authority. Media groups say the government removed exemptions to the vetting requirements – enjoyed by print and broadcast media since the apartheid era – without warning and with little time for consultation. The draft will go to a parliamentary committee, which may hold public hearings, before it is submitted to a vote. “If the bill goes through, we will consider further actions”, says Raymond Louw, a councillor with the South African National Editors’ Forum (SANEF). “There will probably be a constitutional challenge”, he added. On a continent where independent journalists are often muzzled or work under onerous restrictions, South Africa has an unusually vibrant and diverse media scene. However, Mr Mbeki has frequently lashed out at media coverage with which he disagrees, often quoting individual publications and journalists at length. In an online “Letter from the President” published on the website of the ruling African National Congress on August 11th, he wrote of the “consistent and seemingly compulsive negative reporting about Africa”. “Perhaps the time has come that … we, as Africans, take responsibility for how our continent is portrayed”, he wrote. Separately the SABC , South Africa's state broadcaster, launched an inquiry into claims that its news division had banned certain commentators critical of the government, including two journalists employed by the newspaper Business Day . ( The Financial Times, London 14/8 ) Gay Marriage : South Africa's cabinet has given its blessing to a bill allowing gay marriage, which would make it the first country in Africa to accord homosexual couples the same rights as their straight counterparts. A government spokesman, Themba Maseko, said on August 24th that the cabinet had approved the bill, which must still be passed by Parliament, after the country's highest court ruled it was unconstitutional to deny gay people the right to marry. ( Reuters 24/8 )

Journal

Africa Research Bulletin: Political, Social and Cultural Series – Wiley

Published: Sep 1, 2006

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