Congratulations to Cde Pallo, chairing that commission on media diversity helped him to remember many important milestones of the ANC.
Aluta Continua. On Mon, Sep 27, 2010 at 12:09 PM, Tshidiso Nkhahle <[email protected]>wrote: > If you could, thank comrade PALLO for me!!! > > > > *From:* [email protected] [mailto: > [email protected]] *On Behalf Of *Castro Ngobese > *Sent:* 27 September 2010 10:51 AM > *To:* yclsa-eom-forum > *Subject:* [YCLSA Discussion] The struggle for Justice's right to be a > charlatan by Cde Pallo Jordan > > > > > [image: The Times] > > > *Our justice is blind* > > *Charlatans mustn't worry: we fought for their freedom too* > > > > > *Pallo Jordan, The Times, Johannesburg, 27 September 2010* > > The word "prejudice", the Oxford dictionary tells us, derives from > "prejudge", the meaning of which is "to make a premature evaluation without > due consideration of the relevant facts". > > Before we had sung a single note of Nkosi Sikelela to kick off proceedings > at the national general council meeting of the ANC on September20, Justice > Malala's column, subtitled: "Policy summit will be preoccupied with wrong > issues" was published in these pages. > > Then came a harangue from our wannabe-Cassandra, predicting that the > mid-term review conference of the ANC will concern itself with nothing other > than jockeying for position, perhaps cutting a business deal or two, but > will ignore the crisis in education, health and other areas of social > delivery and will concentrate on suppressing the media instead. > > The first edition of The New Age came off the press three days later. A > cartoon on the theme of Heritage Day depicted a typical South African youth, > cellphone in one hand and a laptop in the other. Clustered around him like > satellites were the words: "Twitter", "Google", "Facebook" and "YouTube". > > It reminded me of a policy paper on the information highway authored by > Andile Ngcaba at the ANC's initiative in 1992. > > Shortly after the democratic government took office, it launched a green > paper on telecommunications. This was followed by a white paper after Madiba > addressed the International Telecommunications Union in October 1995. > > Mandela placed a number of challenges before the union: > > "As we head towards the 21st century, the development of a global > information society based on justice, freedom and democracy must be one of > our highest priorities. To this end, I would like to formally table for > discussion at Telecom 95 a set of principles designed to enable the full > participation of both the developed countries and the developing countries > in building a global information society: > > - "We should strive towards global universal service in telephony and > global universal access to the information super-highway; > - "The expansion of the global information infrastructure should be > based on partnership, and on rules of fair competition and regulation, at > both national and international level; > - "The information revolution should be geared towards enhancing global > citizenship and global economic prosperity; > - "A diversity of paths towards the achievements of national > information societies should be respected; > - "The evolution of policy for the development of an equitable global > information society should be co-ordinated internationally to ensure the > sharing of information and resources; > - "The education of young people with regard to the skills needed for > living in an information society should be prioritised." > > > Talk of "heritage" usually refers to the past, but rarely our recent past. > South Africa's recent past includes the information and communications > revolution that has swept our country, along with the rest of the world, > since 1994. > > South African youths who have the discretionary funds, like their > counterparts in the rest of the world, ride the information highway thanks > to the implementation of ANC government policies that arose from those > initiatives. > > Today, any South African who has access to an information and > communications network can download and read a daily newspaper from as far > afield as Omea, in Sweden's Arctic circle, if he wants to. Those who wish to > can enter into interactive conversations with virtual friends in the > farthest point of Hokkaido, Japan; exchange music, videos, films and > anything else that can be digitised with others in Tahiti, Shanghai, > Anchorage or London. > > The coming of The New Age was received with scepticism. > > "If the business model doesn't work, will they make this thing sustainable > in a different way, and on what basis would that be? Would that be a > political basis?" asked Rhodes University's Professor Guy Berger. > > Anton Harber, of Wits University, called it "a healthy addition to the mix > of voices" but said it was important that "they are clear and open about > where they are coming from". > > There were the usual hysterical voices: "South Africa's Pravda? Or, a new > Citizen newspaper, a la Connie Mulder and Eschel Rhoodie? Watch carefully > that not a cent of taxpayers' money finds its way into funding this ANC > party mouthpiece." > > There was the unspoken suggestion that something sinister was afoot. > > Yet politically aligned newspapers are the norm in virtually all > democracies. > > "It is a commercial venture, 200%. That is why we took the top commercial, > most successful, most award-winning company, Times of India, as a partner. > They would not invest if it were not commercial," owner Atul Gupta tried to > explain. > > Today, South Africa's airwaves are shared by hundreds of new commercial and > community radio stations. Free-to-air television is no longer an SABC > monopoly. All owe their existence to the policies of the ANC-led government. > > > The ANC that Malala claims will "... shut down the media" is clearly one of > his imagining, or inspired by the fumes at Apollo's temple. > > At the national general council meetings I rubbed shoulders with seasoned > veterans in their 70s and 80s, now all grey-haired and the worse for the > tough years. > > But I also exchanged greetings with a man we once called "Little Moss". He > was in his late teens, a 1976 "stone thrower", when I first met him. I had > drinks with a comrade, 20 years my junior, who is still recovering from the > effects of brutal torture. A woman I had nicknamed "Mmathantisi", after the > famous warrior queen, greeted me warmly. Another, now an adult union > activist, had been detained and tortured during the 1980s. > > Along with hundreds of their peers, they had sacrificed their youth to > fight for freedom. > > This is the ANC I know. Thanks to their efforts, today Malala enjoys the > freedom to insult them with impunity in wordy, self-righteous columns in The > Times, certain that he won't spend that night in prison. > > But don't despair, Little Moss; we were fighting for the untrammelled right > of savants and charlatans to express their opinions freely! > > > - Jordan is a former Minister of Posts, Telecommunications and > Broadcasting and a senior member of the ANC > > > > *From: > http://www.timeslive.co.za/opinion/article677175.ece/Our-justice-is-blind* > > > > > > > > -- > You are subscribed to the "SOS Relay" e-mail discussion forum of the “SOS - > Support Public Broadcasting” campaign. > To unsubscribe, send email to [email protected] or > send an e-mail to [email protected] with "Unsubscribe from SOS > Relay" in the message. 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