/ 7 March 1997

A ‘black or bleak’ future

Is there a place in the South African media for institutionalised ethnicity? Jacquie Golding-Duffy reports

‘WE are not anti-white, but pro-black,” says Abbey Makoe, chair of the steering committee of the Black Journalists Forum (BJF) – the lobby group recently launched and endorsed by Deputy President Thabo Mbeki and SABC chief executive Zwelakhe Sisulu.

The forum has provoked much debate, with some critics arguing it has no place in a new South Africa where reconciliation should be the order of the day. However, Makoe challenges this, arguing that reconciliation can only take place when black journalists are on an equal footing with their white colleagues.

What is black? “Black is everyone who is not white. Whites are Africans, but they are just not black Africans. Whether they [whites] have any allegiance to Africa is another thing,” he says, speaking from his simple office at Eaton House, Sandton.

His wall is covered with photographs of his daughter and close friends, an autographed picture of Miss South Africa Peggy-Sue Khumalo and some prints of him reporting in the township. One wall-hanging reads: “Be a visitor and not a spy.”

Gauteng editor of the weekly black magazine Drum, Makoe believes that the BJF is needed to unite black journalists nationally. Based on a United States organisation – the National Association of Black Journalists, Makoe says strength lie in numbers.

The aim of the BJF is twofold:

* to act as a pressure group, and

* to ensure training and development for black journalists striving to reach the same calibre of journalism as their white counterparts.

“The standard of everything from writing to the use of English has to be improved among black journalists. We have not had the privilege of enjoying a good education. All this must change and we must train and empower one another,” he says.

Makoe says white journalists, more often than not, deserve their senior positions as they are fully qualified. But, he cautions, it should not be forgotten that they acquired their education by inhumane means. “While they were studying, police were beating township youths. While they were studying, black youths were being imprisoned. While they were studying, blacks were being murdered.

“They have what we are fighting for and we are still aspiring to reap the fruits of education. We are not going to take anything from them. What we want to do is share in their education.”

On improving the education of black reporters, Makoe says the BJF can assist in lobbying for overseas funds to ensure training and improved multi-skilling for reporters in print and electronic media. It has succeeded in getting a local banking institution to agree to train black reporters in financial reporting. It is also close to clinching deals with overseas sponsors.

Makoe argues that the BJF provides a platform for black journalists to vocalise frustrations and difficulties. “It is nice to see my black brothers and sisters no longer being the minority in a bar full of white reporters. It is good to have the BJF where they have a voice and are allowed the opportunity to network with politicians and socialise with people in the news.”

The BJF has monthly imbizos and always has a guest speaker. Makoe argues that the speakers talk off the record, allowing a degree of trust to be nurtured.

“We are respected in the township, but once in the newsroom we are merely told what to do by our white editors and are often influenced by them. That all has to change and change it will … But when the change happens we have to be fully equipped to do the job well.”

Makoe says the future is either “black or bleak”.

“If white corporations are committed to empowering black journalists then it stands to reason that most of the upper echelons of companies will be black. If that does not happen and it won’t for many, many years, then racial polarisation will be the result.”

The idea for the BJF began as early as 1992 when a group of black journalists informally gathered. “We realised it was crucial that we present ourselves as a monolithic group.

“We have to be black and proud and not feel the need to emulate white colleagues. We are not antagonistic and will not deny anyone admission to the BJF, but I do not see why a white journalist would want to be a part of a group which is intent on training black reporters. White reporters do not need the assistance we are planning to mete out to black journalists.”

The BJF is planning to make a submission to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and promises that it will be “a revelation. It will not be deliberately evasive of the hardships endured by black reporters, but it will recount personal experiences. It will also name spies which operated in the media – a list which is long overdue,” he says.

On the formation of Die Mediaklub, Makoe says he does not see the point of such a club other than it obstructing affirmative action and standing in the way of black development. “I do not object to it but they must be warned … we are watching their every move.”