Ruling party seeking a tame, uncritical media

The Herald Editorial: The most disconcerting aspect of the claim by the DA that the ANC "wasted" R1.5-billion on luxuries is the fact that the ruling party is unrepentant about its actions and has targeted the media for carrying the reports and "vilifying" President Jacob Zuma and members of the cabinet.

The “luxuries” included prolonged stays at five-star hotels like Cape Town’s Mount Nelson while official residences were renovated; vehicles equipped with a range of unnecessary trimmings and tickets to the 2010 World Cup.

The party has now called for the creation of an independent media tribunal, a call supported by the SA Communist Party whose general secretary, Blade Nzimande, was one of those who lived at the plush Mount Nelson for a period of time.

ANC spokesman Jackson Mthembu went so far as to state reports on the extravagance amounted to an “abuse of press freedom”. More than anything else that reveals the ANC either does not understand the meaning of “freedom of the press” or does not like the fact that the media is protected by the Constitution and is therefore free to expose what it believes is wrong – such as money wasted on luxury accommodation when countless numbers in this country do not have houses and enough to eat.

It is clear that despite its protestations to the contrary and repeated statements of a commitment to the freedom of the press the ANC wants a tame and uncritical media such as that sought by the National Party during the apartheid years and enforced by Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe in that country.

We suspect the local government elections scheduled for next year are a critical factor in the current desire to exercise greater control over the media.

The second area of concern is that the ruling party clearly believes it has done no wrong in wasting R1.5-billion and that members of the cabinet are entitled to the most luxurious accommodation with Mthembu saying yesterday there was “nothing immoral” about such expenditure.

That, we suggest, reflects the extent to which the ruling elite has become divorced from the people it claims to represent – “the poor and working class”.

We disagree with Mthembu and believe spending such sums is “immoral” because it cannot be right that the elite spend R1.5-billion in this manner as long people are hungry and homeless. It smacks of an indifference to the plight of the poor – the very people the ANC claims to represent.