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

Fri May 30 07:42:20 EDT 2014

Many thanks Anriette for sharing this very important case.
In my view it is Not a local issue of South Africa, but rather quite
global, if not universal challenge we all face with.

Has there been any mention of "Multistakeholder" for your national process
of ICT governance or policy formulation?

We need local MSH process at work, to advance global CS involvement in MSH
governance implementation.

Izumi

2014年5月26日月曜日、Anriette Esterhuysen<anriette at apc.org>さんは書きました:

>  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 on
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>

-- 
                     >> Izumi Aizu <<
Institute for InfoSocionomics, Tama University, Tokyo
Institute for HyperNetwork Society, Oita,
Japan
www.anr.org
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