The African National Congress (ANC) on Monday again criticised the media over their coverage of the 2011 local government elections.
“For a big part of this campaign, we had to swim against the media,” ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe said at a meeting with political journalists and editors.
The meeting was called to discuss the party’s 2011 election campaign, but was dominated by debate over the media’s coverage of the ANC ahead of the May 18 polls.
Mantashe said that for much of the campaign, the ANC had to “rise” against the media.
He said journalists in the print media “couched analysis as facts”. The electronic media repeatedly showed negative images, without mentioning the positives.
“You stage-manage the message that comes out on electronic media,” Mantashe said.
Journalists raised their own concerns, saying the ANC needed to manage its communication better.
Mantashe responded that if the ANC tried to manage the media better, the media would “cry control”.
‘Rather give us a blackout’
Citing editorials in two newspapers, which Mantashe did not name, he said they either “viciously” attacked the ANC or said nothing at all about the party.
He also criticised the media for “tampering” with ANC messages, saying the media felt it had a “monopoly of wisdom to know what society wants to hear”.
“The media, for God’s sake, must not tamper with our messages … give us a blackout rather.”
Earlier in the campaign, the ANC questioned the timing of certain stories published in the mainstream press, including reports on a plot by senior ANC members to oust President Jacob Zuma.
All systems go
Meanwhile, all systems are in place for a successful, free and fair local government election, Acting Cooperative Governance Minister Nathi Mthethwa said on Monday.
“All the ministers represented in the inter-ministerial committee [IMC] have all confirmed their state of readiness in ensuring that [voting] on the 18th [is] in an environment that is conducive to a successful election,” he said in a statement.
The IMC consists of members from various government departments, the Presidency, the municipal demarcation board (MDB), the South African Local Government Association and Independent Electoral Commission (IEC).
The committee, set up by Mthethwa to prepare for the municipal elections, is responsible for coordination and monitoring of support activities to ensure the IEC can conduct a free and fair election.
“All the key stakeholders in the IMC and related institutions have reported readiness in all provinces to ensure proper processes and systems before, during and after the elections on Wednesday.”
All provincial government departments had also reported being ready.
As a result of the redetermination of municipal boundaries and the delimitation of wards by the MDB, 278 municipalities (previously 283) would be ushered in on Wednesday, and the number of wards increase from 3 895 to 4 277. — Sapa
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