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South African President
Jacob Zuma, center, and other members
of the ANC cut a cake
celebrating the 100th year of the party.
(EPA/Elmond Jiyane)
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On January 8, 1912, South African
intellectuals--including pioneering black newspaper publishers Pixley ka
Isaka Seme, editor of Abantu-Batho, and John Langalibalele Dube,
editor of Ilanga lase Natal--formed Africa's oldest liberation movement,
the African National Congress (ANC),
in the Wesleyan Church in Bloemfontein.
During weekend centennial commemorations of this
event, twitter users made the #ANC100 hash tag a global
trend. The lively social media debate illustrated both the discomfort many
Africans feel toward criticism of their leaders, and the role as scapegoat that
the media is currently playing as the ANC struggles to hold onto a decisively
positive legacy. It also highlights the growing influence of social media in
South Africa, where the number of Twitter users is estimated to have increased
20-fold in little more than a year, according to Bizcommunity.com.
The current ANC leadership has
maligned the South African news media for what it calls unfair coverage. The
National Assembly that it controls has passed an information bill
(still pending approval by the upper house) that would restrain investigative
reporting and make information harder to get - apparently all in a bid to suppress
corruption stories and silence criticism. As such, journalists
tweeting critically about the party over the weekend met with antagonism on
social media from ANC supporters.
For example, after Time's South
Africa-based correspondent Alexander J. Perry tweeted
the headline of his article, "How the ANC
lost its way, A critical look at the most storied of liberation
movements on its centenary," a twitterer called Khaya Dlanga accused
the journalist of unbalanced reporting. "You didn't call it a failed
state, but you wrote your Time Magazine article like you were writing
about one," tweeted
Dlanga, who claimed his grandfather died after being imprisoned and tortured
during apartheid. "Reading the article seemed to me like the ANC didn't do
one good thing these past 17 years," Dlanga said.
"Yes, I do feel that most of our leaders are not living up to the ideals
of the founding fathers," he added,
before declaring:
"I criticize the ANC all the time, but I don't pretend they never do any
good." Perry defended the story but welcomed the feedback. "As you
know, feedback, like yours, is vital for any media," he tweeted.
"All the reports I've seen, by
both local and international media, about #ANC100 point out how the ANC has let
itself go in recent years," complained
@Mabine_Seabe. "Y is the media focusing on what ANC is not doing, instead
of celebrating with them," asked
@morudilebo. "What's so hard for Media houses just to congratulate #ANC100
and stop talking about discontents of past 17 years?" said
@mokhathi.
There were other signs of ANC-media
tensions after several journalists criticized President Jacob Zuma's speech at
a local stadium in the municipality of Mangaung on Sunday. "The story of
Mangaung so far today. Two themes. How slowly Zuma is delivering his speech and
how quickly people are leaving. Sigh," tweeted
Channel 403 news anchor Iman Rappeti. In response, Mzi Dlanga, a Zuma supporter,
tweeted:
"Some idiots are criticizing President Zuma's speech & if u were to
give them a piece of paper & a pen they wouldn't even know where to
start." Dlanga also accused journalist and political analyst Justice
Malala of bias against the president. "My guess is that Justice Malala
would be attacking the character of Mr Zuma & he won't give us balanced
analysis of the ANC," he tweeted.
Reporting on Zuma's speech, journalist
Mandy Rossouw tweeted
that "A faction in the crowd tries their best to distract Zuma, police
sent in to stop them." Zuma supporter MthimkuluMashiya responded,
"JZ speech shaping up to be a powerful & inspirational one, must u
concentrate on a few disruptive elements? C'mon now."
Earlier, City Press Multimedia Editor
Qhakaza Mthembu complained about the official decision to deny journalists
access to the Wesleyan church where Zuma lit a symbolic torch. "Why would
you invite the media if you gonna push us away and close church doors, I'm here
to film the candle not the friggin doors," he angrily tweeted.
Mthembu later sarcastically expressed his surprise at seeing an ANC spokesman
lounging in the media pavilion, drawing an even more sarcastic comment
by @drphobophob: "Oh is Floyd Shivambu chilling in the media pavilion? I
was pretty sure he hated our kind...1st rule of war=know your enemy."
Even the state-run South African Press
Agency made note of an apparently deliberate act by the ANC Youth League
(ANCYL) to shut out the media by not distributing their public statement to
journalists. "#ANCYL message of support not in booklet handed to journos
at ANC Centenary, just Sanco, Cosatu, Sacp, women's league and veterans
league," read a tweet
on its account.
Yet not all criticism of the ANC
appeared to come from members of the press. "The #ANC pops champagne yet
majority of South Africans struggle to access clean water. "tweeted
@bekezeep. "At #ANC100 look out for all the dictators with murky
Zuma..." tweeted
@hebbiedodds. "LEADERS typically arrive in the latest range rover while
the masses are ferried in belching buses," tweeted
@Ms_eazy. "Celebrating 100 years of what? Have we achieved the true
victories set out in the Freedom Charter?" tweeted
@SuGaRusHB. "Gotta wonder what #anc100 concert really cost us? How many
houses schools or hospitals could we have built? How many kids could we have
fed?" tweeted
@TracyLeePurto. "Anc was started by theologians yet today its criminals
that run it," tweeted
@MaqPaulM.
In a microcosm of the national debate,
Zuma supporters confronted a twitterer called Hlomla Dandala for mocking
the president. "Mangaung: Where tenderprenuers meet pantyprenuers,"
read one of his tweets,
a witty reference to corruption and sex scandals entangling several ANC
leaders. Defending himself, Dandala tweeted
to a handful of Zuma supporters: "In all democracies, presidents r
criticised, ridiculed & mocked. That's democracy."
The best line came from National
Director of Public Prosecution Menzi Simelane, tweeting in his personal
capacity. "Good thing about real freedom is about making fun of your
President, an elder, and a Statesman, without worrying about
repercussions!" he said.
However, given pending criminal
complaints by Zuma's spokesman against two journalists, as well as
other potential media prosecutions,
repercussions against investigative reporting cannot be ruled out.
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