The arrest or otherwise of Sunday Times editor Mondli Makhanya on charges of breaching the Health Act is not the key media freedom issue.
The newspaper denies stealing or paying for Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang’s hospital file and argues that its publication of details contained in it was justified on public interest grounds.
But its possession and use of the file might well be an offence. The South African National Editors’ Forum struck the right note by saying that a trial would give both sides an opportunity to state their case. No one is above the law and Makhanya has made it clear that he does not consider himself immune from prosecution.
What are far more troubling are the indications of state interference in the investigation of Makhanya and, more broadly, of a state- or ANC-inspired campaign to discredit him as the editor of a paper seen as hostile to the government.
Why was a senior policeman told to drop everything and pursue this minor charge? Did the charge really warrant a trip to New Zealand to interview a witness?
The Sunday Times says it has it on good authority that Makhanya’s phone has been tapped and that there are concerted efforts to dig up dirt on him.
In a transparent attempt to set Makhanya’s bosses at Johncom against him, the Minister in the Presidency and President Thabo Mbeki’s personal hatchet-man, Essop Pahad, last month threatened to withdraw all government advertising from the Sunday Times.
And, with mind-boggling hypocrisy, the South African National Civic Organisation has asked the prosecuting authorities to investigate Makhanya’s actions as a member of a self-defence unit in KwaZulu-Natal in the 1980s and whether he sought amnesty for them.
Sanco is the successor to the township community movements that sprang up during the uprisings of the 1980s and many of its members were involved in the necklackings and other horrors of that terrible period. Why does it not ask for them to be investigated?
The interesting thing is that no one has accused the Sunday Times of publishing falsehoods about Tshabalala-Msimang and she has yet to deny being an alcoholic and convicted thief.
Makhanya’s sin is that he has published inconvenient truths about an incompetent minister and an Mbeki loyalist whom the president refuses to fire. And he has done it in the run-up to the ANC’s national conference in Polokwane, which seems to govern all the president’s actions.
The campaign against Makhanya has wider dimensions. At its policy conference in June the ANC called for clamps on the media and both presidential hopeful Jacob Zuma and senior communist Blade Nzimande have demanded new restrictions.
There are also concerns about the implications of the tussle for control of Johncom and for the future editorial independence of the Sunday Times. One of the great gains of our democratic revolution, the freedom of the media to tell South Africans what is happening in their country, could be under threat.
Makhanya is a brave and principled editor and the attack on him is clearly intended as a warning to the rest of the media. The purpose is to make all journalists think twice about critical reporting or commentary on the government. In the interests of their right to know, all South Africans should make it their business to defend him.
Isandlwana all over again
On January 22 1879 the British military suffered a major defeat at the hands of a Zulu army. On Saturday the Battle of Isandlwana will be fought again, albeit in a far friendlier — but no less tense — atmosphere at the Rugby World Cup final in Paris.
South Africans are passionate about their sport. So are the English. The Battle of Paris will be titanic and it would be prudent for Jake White and his men to put the 36-0 drubbing of five weeks ago out of their minds.
Finals are grisly affairs, and we should expect a brutal tussle in Saturday’s contest for the William Webb Ellis trophy.
This week saw excessive attempts by organisers to secure the presence of the most ardent Springbok fan, former president Nelson Mandela, in Paris. For health reasons Madiba will not travel to Europe.
The insistence of the Springboks and rugby supporters in general on Madiba’s presence is, however, significant. Not even government’s assurance that President Thabo Mbeki will attend appeases the nation.
South Africa has been going through a depressing time, and a Springbok victory on Saturday will undoubtedly lift the nation’s morale. No one knows this more than Mbeki. Even the ANC Youth League, normally their biggest critic, is hoping the Boks will bring the Cup home.
It would be easy to accuse Mbeki, his government and the ruling party of double standards and provide myriad examples of where the Springboks — and especially White — have been castigated unfairly.
But let’s leave that for now and focus on the important stuff: beating the Poms on Saturday night.
A second World Cup win for the Springboks will be an exceptional and historic event. It won’t evoke the same ecstatic emotions as the victory in 1995, but that was another time.
South Africa has come a long way, however gloomy things may seem. On Saturday we need a repeat of the Isandlwana Âvictory to remind us of this.