ANCYL rubbishes blog campaign
2010-03-24 13:20
Cape Town - A blog campaign condemning the ANC Youth League has gained momentum, with several bloggers adding their names.
Sipho Hlongwane started the campaign after becoming increasingly concerned by ANCYL threats against journalists.
"For the first time I got a shock. I realised the lengths to which the ANC Youth League would go. This was the most blatant attack on media freedom I could remember. I thought, 'What can I do?' Social media seemed like a good answer," he said.
Hlongwane and several other bloggers co-ordinated a blog (@SpeakZA Blogroll) to condemn the ANCYL and ask the ANC to reaffirm its position on media freedom.
Youth League spokesperson Floyd Shivambu has dismissed the initiative.
Unrepentant
"I'm never worried about that, why should I be worried about these fake people?" he told News24.
Shivambu challenged Hlongwane to face the ANCYL openly.
"People engage with us every day and we're there to engage. We don't have time for people who don't want to engage with openly. They will never make a difference in the country," he said.
Hlongwane was unrepentant.
"I have expressed myself, as a patriotic citizen of South Africa, as is my Constitutional right. The ANCYL are infamous for their furious invective, but that's no reason to fear them," he told News24.
He also said that he was motivated by "the protection of democracy", adding that media is vital for accountability.
"SpeakZA was by no means an attempt to portray the media as innocent lambs. I'm not saying the press are always perfect. The principle of free speech and media freedom must be protected.
"A free press holds us, as governments, groups or individuals, accountable. No one can abridge that right through threats or intimidation," he added.
Media
Shivambu had earlier said that the ANCYL considers that the internet doesn't "speak to our people" and would not follow-up on stories about the organisation on the internet.
Hlongwane conceded that his message would be limited by the poor reach of the internet in SA, but blasted the idea that the internet was a platform for a section of the population.
"What has emerged is that some are branding SpeakZA as a "rich white" whinger initiative, by pointing out that most South Africans with access to the internet and blogging platforms are white. That's a ridiculous allegation. Bloggers of all races, cultures and walks of life rose up in support of SpeakZA," he said.
Shivambu had strong words for the media.
"The media will never shape the direction on the country. They wrote off Jacob Zuma, and he's president of the country. They said that Cope was a big threat and the ANC won with an absolute majority," he said.
Shivambu said that journalists who report on blogs have a responsibility to investigate the bloggers.
"If journalists were real citizens, they would investigate these people who post fake things about us," he said.
Statement
Hlongwane said that it was up to the ANC to "reign in" the ANCYL, but that he didn't believe that it would happen, despite recent comments by Jacob Zuma.
"It was interesting to note that President Jacob Zuma said recently that journalists should not be attacked. I think they'll eventually release a statement along those lines, perhaps as a response to the greater concern and not just to SpeakZA.
"What will be interesting to see is whether they'll try to rein the Youth League and Malema in. They haven't really done that in the past, and I don't see what's changed that they'll do that now," he said.