[governance] South Africa R2K STATEMENT: New Cabinet is a blow to the right to communicate

Anriette Esterhuysen anriette at apc.org
Mon May 26 07:11:15 EDT 2014


Dear all

This is a huge blow for us in South Africa. We have had a good minister 
of communications for a while, Yunus Carrim. He made a very positive 
difference in his short tenure, ensuring that we have a functioning 
broadband policy and beginning to tackle issues such as digital 
migration.  He had a very strong public interest commitment.

Sadly our new cabinet has just been announced and he has been completely 
sidelined. We have 2 ministries where we had one. Posts and Telecoms 
lead by the former security establishment leader who lead the infamous 
south african 'secrecy bill' and Communications which combines broad 
communications with government propaganda

This is very depressing for us.

See the statement below from South Africa's right to information civil 
society coalition.

Anriette



Please circulate widely...


  R2K STATEMENT: New Cabinet is a blow to the right to communicate

*/Issued by the Right2Know Campaign, 26 May 2014./*

Yesterday President Zuma announced his new Cabinet including a new 
Ministry of Telecommunications and Postal Services and a 
reconceptualised Ministry of Communications.

*_Ministry of Communications: Ensuring the ‘Good Story’ get’s told._*

The new-look Ministry of Communications, led by Faith Muthambi, will be 
responsible for both overarching communication policy and spreading 
government information, publicity and branding of the country abroad.

By conflating communication policy and government propaganda the 
President is signaling an intention to ensure various institutions will 
be used to amplify government propaganda rather then to create a 
democratic communication system for all South Africans.

Of particular concern is Zuma’s announcement that the new Communications 
Ministry will be "formed out of" the Independent Communications 
Authority of South Africa (Icasa), the SA Broadcasting Corporation 
(SABC) and the Media Development and Diversity Agency (MDDA). These are 
all bodies which have degrees of statuary independence from the 
Executive. They all have critical mandates to defend and advance our 
constitutional rights to freedom of expression and access to information.

We must now face the risk that the Ministry of Communications will be 
used to further weaken the regulatory capacity of Icasa and further 
undermine the already questionable independence of the SABC, all in 
service of creating a communication environment compliant to the needs 
of government messaging, rather than one which best serves the 
information needs of the people.

The Ministry will also be responsible for drafting government policies 
on broadcasting and the transformation of the print media. These are 
both long overdue interventions that should be aimed at diversifying the 
media landscape and ensuring the sustainability of public and community 
media. These sensitive regulatory processes must be undertaken to 
advance freedom of expression and press freedom in particular. They are 
now in the hands of a Minister with a mandate to ensure that 
government’s ‘good story’ gets told.

*_Ministry of Telecommunications and Postal Services: Profit before 
People and Privacy._*

The new Ministry of Telecommunications and Postal Services is led by 
former spy boss Siyabonga Cwele.  The Right2Know Campaign has concerns 
about both the rationale for a new Ministry as well as the 
appropriateness of Siyabonga Cwele’s appointment.

The increasing convergence of broadcasting and information 
communications telecommunications technologies (ICTs) has led to a 
global trend of convergence where broadcasting and telecommunications 
are increasingly integrated. President Zuma’s three previous Ministers 
responsible for broadcasting and ICTs have all driven an integrated 
approach that has led to the ICT Green Paper currently in discussion. 
The new Ministry appears to be a set back that will undermine the 
ability of South Africa to harness the democratizing and developmental 
potentials of communication technologies.

Further, the President’s stated intentions for the new Ministry places 
economic growth ahead of the ICT needs of our democracy and our people.

Information must flow across society and form the basis of a social 
dialogue that deepens our democracy and advances social, economic, and 
environmental justice.  Instead the President has emphasized the 
economic value of an industry already defined by excessive 
monopolization, profiteering and the failure to provide affordable 
access to the majority of South Africans.

Globally, the revelations by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden have shown 
why state surveillance and the right to privacy need to be at the centre 
of any government communications policy. In South Africa there is urgent 
need for both government and the private telecommunications sector to 
scrap policies and practices that allow ordinary South Africans’ 
communications to be intercepted and their privacy to be violated.

Under Dr Cwele’s stewardship of the Ministry of State Security, there 
have been growing concerns about the use and misuse of interception of 
communications. (Between 2008 and 2011 – the most recent statistics 
available through Parliament – there was a 170% increase in interception 
through the RICA system[1] 
<https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?tab=wm&pli=1#146381a7f6f01df0__ftn1>.) As 
former Minister of State Security, Dr Cwele refused to engage publically 
with the findings of the 2008 report of the Matthews Commission into 
abuses of power and privacy in state-security structures, helping to 
bury the report on a technicality and allowing government officials and 
Parliamentarians to refuse to even acknowledge the report’s findings.

Both Ministries poses a potential threat to the Right2Know’s Vula ‘ma 
Connexion (open the connections) campaign for safe, quality and 
affordable access to communications.

We call on both the Ministers to commit to upholding and advancing our 
right to communicate– to receive and impart information and opinions – 
that is central to our right to know.

We are committed to engaging constantly with both Ministries to ensure 
that the Right2Know’s /Preconditions for a Democratic Communication 
System/[2] 
<https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?tab=wm&pli=1#146381a7f6f01df0__ftn2>//are 
delivered in their term in office/. /We will intensify our campaign for 
a democratic communication system that is able to:

•Secure community ownership of networks

•Provide universal service and democratic use

•Protect digital rights of privacy and freedom of expression

•Utilize convergence for efficient digital delivery

•Enshrine the practice of net neutrality

•Acquire capital for network growth and economic sufficiency

•Maintain a vision of forward-thinking technology

### ENDS ###

*_For Comment:_*

National Spokesperson: Murray Hunter 072 6725468

Media Freedom/Diversity Spokesperson: Julie Reid: 082 885 8969

Telecommunications Spokesperson: John Haffner 0603665880

Gauteng Spokesperson: Dale McKinley 072 429 4086


KZN Spokesperson: Nomvula Sikakane: 073 4882374

Statement online: http://www.r2k.org.za/2014/05/26/new-zuma-cabinet/


------------------------------------------------------------------------

[1] 
<https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?tab=wm&pli=1#146381a7f6f01df0__ftnref1>See 
R2K’s analysis at 
http://www.r2k.org.za/2014/03/16/r2k-analysis-signs-of-a-deep-rot-in-state-security-structures/

[2] 
<https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?tab=wm&pli=1#146381a7f6f01df0__ftnref2> See 
R2K preconditions for a democratic communications system here: 
http://www.r2k.org.za/2014/03/28/right2know-releases-preconditions-for-a-democratic-broadcasting-telecommunications-system/

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