African National Congress president Jacob Zuma’s ascent will not bring a new era of ”openness”, Democratic Alliance leader Helen Zille predicted on Friday.
”There is a popular myth developing that Jacob Zuma’s ascent signals a break with the more authoritarian aspects of President Thabo Mbeki’s tenure, and that his presidency would usher in a new era of openness,” she wrote in her weekly online newsletter.
”Yet Zuma’s troubled relationship with the media militates against that, as do several laws presently making their way through the parliamentary process,” Zille said.
If amendments to the Broadcasting Act, the Films and Publications Act, and National Key Points Act were enacted, and the Protection of Information Bill was passed into law, transparency and freedom of expression — two cornerstones of an open society — would wither on the vine.
”Coupled with various other threats from Zuma and his allies to the values enshrined in our Constitution, this package of legislation harks back to a darker past and bodes ill for democratic governance under a post-Mbeki administration.”
On Tuesday, the Broadcasting Amendment Bill was ”steamrollered” through the National Assembly by the ANC.
Amendments to the Act were first proposed by the ANC in a communications portfolio committee meeting in June. Barely two months later, the Assembly passed them.
”Why such unseemly haste? The reasons are entirely political,” Zille said.
They stemmed from the ruling party’s habit — learned from their predecessors — of treating the South African Broadcasting Corporation as a political tool and politicising public institutions that should remain independent of the ruling party for the survival of constitutional democracy.
”The Bill is nothing more than an attempt by ANC MPs to remove the board members aligned to Mbeki; to ingratiate themselves with their new party president and his supporters; and to pave the way for further
political deployments and dismissals.
”By supporting this bill, ANC MPs have shown themselves to be just as spineless as when they first agreed to accept Mbeki’s hand-picked candidates,” she said.
Should it be signed into law, the Bill would sacrifice media freedom on the altar of political self-interest.
”If politicians use organs of state to entrench their own power, the inevitable result is a descent into authoritarian rule.
”This is typified by [Zimbabwean] President Robert Mugabe, who has manipulated the electoral commission, the state broadcaster and the security forces to cling to power,” Zille said.
”Yet again, Zuma’s ANC is demonstrating that it poses a serious threat to Constitutional freedoms by passing laws confirming their leader’s stated belief that the ANC is more important than the Constitution.
”It is the critical task of the collective opposition to defend these constitutional freedoms,” she said. – Sapa