> > On Freedom of Expression, Consolidating our common cultural outlook and “The > Spear”! >
> 20 May 1012 > As the South African Students’ Congress (SASCO), we have noted the impunity > with which, at most, the South African media in general, and in this case > cartoonists and artists, have sought to arbitrarily determine what > constitutes freedom of expression with total disregard for the varying > understandings of the freedom in question amongst the peoples of our country. > The depiction of President Jacob Zuma in a portrait by the artist, Mr. > Murray, with his genitals hanging for the whole world to see is indeed an > expression of an opinion. An opinion, in our view, that carries on its back > the most obscene form of human disrespect and degradation. It also expresses > a one dimensional and Eurocentric ideological drive towards the determination > of our cultural and value outlook as a people; that is the cultural and moral > outlook of the new South Africa, a nation born out of the consolidation of > various cultural persuasions into one. > > The very depiction of President Zuma with his genitals hanging in the open > is disingenuous, rude, disrespectful and, moreover, an attack on the social > standing of the President both as a political leader and a father that has > nothing to do with political squabbles for public office. Conversely, > opinions about the superiority of one race over another are categorically > opinions held by individuals whose right of freedom of expression, as human > beings, must be guaranteed. However, there is relative consensus that such > expressions of racial undermine and hatred are intolerable and therefore > criminal in the face of the law because the cultural persuasion of majority > South Africans has mutated to a point of recognition that there is such a > thing as human dignity whose existence is must be protected. > > What stands out quite arrogantly is the fact that an adult, let alone that he > is a President, is subjected to public ridicule by exposing their private > parts. This arrogance is ideological and an attack to the very value and > moral systems of the majority African people and many other religious > persuasions. Only the liberal and right-wing intellectual persuasions find it > acceptable that an old man can be depicted with their manhood exposed. All of > this is veiled under the now weak curtain of appealing to freedom of > expression. Satire or not, there is nothing politically acceptable about a > personalized attack on the President by drawing his genitals and putting them > on public display. All forms of art work should be sensitive to the volatile > process of a South Africa still striving to form and consolidate an inclusive > cultural identity and value system geared at cementing social cohesion > amongst the people of different cultural backgrounds. > > The less we say about the populism echoed by some actions of David Shapiro, > famously known as Zapiro, the more dangerous the attack on our social > cohesion becomes. Notwithstanding the degenerate impressions his earlier > depictions of President Zuma sought to fly through other cartoons, it was > quite populist of him to validate the work of Mr Murray by venturing into the > same inappropriate antics as well. On the Sunday Times of 20 May 2009, > Zapiro’s cartoon of a shower coming out of President Zuma’s pants was nothing > more than a populist exploit of his excess to public platforms and undermine > of Zuma all in the name of denigrating the person of the President in the > same manner as Mr Murray. We are not against people opposing corruption, > cronyism, patronage and any other form of degenerate political relations. > However, no opposition to these justifies the use of inappropriate > illustrations at the expense of people’s rights to dignity and the African > value of respect for the elderly. > > As the South African Students’ Congress, we remain committed to the pursuit > and protection of all freedoms and consolidation of our democratic identity. > In the same light, we view the limitation of freedoms as necessary so long as > such freedoms overlap to the infringement of other people’s freedoms; in this > case, the dignity of President Zuma being the right under attack. We do not > express the above views from a purely partisan vantage point. On the > contrary, we are opposed to any systematic consolidation of an exclusivist > determination of our national culture, including what is acceptable within > the democratic discourse that all South Africans are committed to > hegemonising. > > All that is appropriate for the safe pursuit of our democratic consensus on > matters of expression and all would be the removal of the portrait of > President Zuma from the gallery concerned and an apology from Mr Murray. > After all, there is such a thing as a weakness in judgment with no deliberate > intention to cause harm. > > Contact: > > Ngoako Selamolela, SASCO President, 071 875 2224 > Themba Masondo, SASCO Secretary General, 079 199 3421 -- You are subscribed. This footer can help you. Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to this message. 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