Freelancers E-Cape, Freestate condemn Nceba Faku's 'burn The Herald' attack
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Freelancers belonging to the Eastern Cape and Free State branch of the Southern African Freelancers' Association (SAFREA) have expressed deep concern over and condemned the attack on the media and to burn down The Herald's offices by Nelson Mandela Bay ANC regional chairperson Nceba Faku.
Chairperson of the Eastern Cape branch of the SA Freelancer’s Association Mike Loewe said: “We note with dismay that Mr Faku hit out at all media, while targeting The Herald, which has been investigating him for corruption.
“Our understanding is that Faku is issuing a call for all journalists to come under party attack. This is attrocious.
“Freelancers are essentially small business people, who mostly operate on their own. Wild, self-serving comments from senior political figures like Mr Faku, are not to be taken lightly. Our branch of Safrea will work hard to protect our members in terms of the freedom of the media and freedom of expression as enshrined in the Constitution.”
Speaking in his personal capacity, Loewe said he found it incongruous that Faku should call for a return to the old “UDF approach”.
“Freelancers like myself, Mbulelo Linda, (now regional manager of the Department of Local Government and Traditional Affairs in Port Elizabeth), and Brian Sokutu, (the ANC’s national spokesperson), will clearly recall how journalists kept the UDF message alive in the mid-‘80s by interviewing and publishing the comments of the leadership, who were on the run and living incognito in the Port Elizabeth and surrounding townships.
“The words of UDF leaders like Stone Sizani, Mkhuseli Jack, Matthew Goniwe, Henry Fazi, and Edgar Ngoyi received international media coverage as a direct consequence of the work of Port Elizabeth freelancers."
“A look back at The Herald of those days will reveal that the paper made a concerted effort to report the political uprising and to analyse the importance of these events for the city, region and country.
“Editors and reporters were prosecuted and journalists were harassed, detained and banned. The media in Port Elizabeth particularly suffered in the struggle to get the news of the UDF and its activities published.”
“Perhaps Mr Faku refers to the darker underside of the ‘80’s political violence, where a number of deaths and injuries occured in internecine conflict between his movement and opposition movements. I recall the infamous necklacing murders and the “OMO” treatment, where people accused of being “traitors” or “spies” had washing powder forced down their throats.
“At the time, we accepted the argument that this violence was largely a result of divisions spawned by agents of the apartheid state, but in later years uncomfortable and painful questions are starting to be asked about violence in the heart of the liberation movement itself.
“Mr Faku needs to decide if he is a man of our new Constitution with its free, independent media and multi-party system, or if, in the pursuit of personal interests, he intends to burn and destroy not only The Herald, but all people who support the hard-won pillars of a free, non-racial, non-sexist democratic South Africa.”
Issued by:
Mike Loewe
Chairperson of the Eastern Cape and Free State branch of the SA Freelancers’ Association
Cell: 083 9911340
Tel: 046 6361050
Email: editor@ecn.co.za
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