The dark day 42 years ago when some prominent South African newspapers were banned, and many editors and journalists were harassed and imprisoned was commemorated on 18 October.
The South African National Editors Forum (Sanef) hosted the Black Wednesday Gala Dinner fundraiser at Emoyeni Estate in Parktown to commemorate the day.
Sanef chairperson Mahlatse Mahlase said the purpose of the dinner was to honour those who used the might of the pen to risk their lives so that today’s journalists could be free to speak truth to power while being protected by the country’s celebrated Constitution.
“We honour the men and women like Percy Qoboza, Mathatha Tsedu and Thenjiwe Mtintso… 19 October 1977 became known as Black Wednesday. On the day, the nationalist government back then attempted to silence the media by banning newspapers and organisations that were part of the black consciousness movement,” added Mahlase.
“Yes, in a democratic South Africa we don’t fear being tortured nor being jailed, but our jobs are still very hard. We are facing new threats to our freedom. It has become all too familiar that a journalist will expose a politician’s wrongdoing and the threats won’t be to news bodies or relevant authorities, but instead, the journalist will be attacked and insulted.”
She added that journalists were now victims of online abuse, especially women reporters who were regularly threatened with rape. Mahlase said everyone should be concerned as all this threatened to weaken the very lifeline of the country’s democracy.
Deputy governor of the Reserve Bank, Kuben Naidoo said the media was a contested space marred by political interference, commercial imperatives and depleted newsrooms.
He added that since 1994, the world had become so much more complex with the media and central banks struggling with the same dance in so many ways – the need for independence balanced by the need to become accountable to society.
Naidoo said, “Journalistic integrity rests on the need to be independent from political interference and commercial imperative. But at the same time holding public trust through being accountable for what they say, write, publish or broadcast. Neither the central banks nor journalists are in a popularity contest. It is our duty to tell the truth in all its gory detail.”
Details: South African National Editors Forum www.sanef.org.za
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