[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/
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
Groups "R2K_working_groups" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send
an email to r2k_working_groups+unsubscribe at googlegroups.com
<mailto:r2k_working_groups+unsubscribe at googlegroups.com>.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.igcaucus.org/pipermail/governance/attachments/20140526/21d90128/attachment.htm>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: R2K_STATEMENT_-_new_minsters blow to right2communicate .pdf
Type: application/pdf
Size: 165957 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://lists.igcaucus.org/pipermail/governance/attachments/20140526/21d90128/attachment.pdf>
-------------- next part --------------
____________________________________________________________
You received this message as a subscriber on the list:
governance at lists.igcaucus.org
To be removed from the list, visit:
http://www.igcaucus.org/unsubscribing
For all other list information and functions, see:
http://lists.igcaucus.org/info/governance
To edit your profile and to find the IGC's charter, see:
http://www.igcaucus.org/
Translate this email: http://translate.google.com/translate_t
More information about the Governance
mailing list