Wagging fingers old and new put press ...

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Wagging fingers old and new put press freedom in its place

Not surprisingly, black journalists were a little put out with the President's apparent lack of confidence in their professional integrity and his steadfast belief that no black person could conceivably have a point of view which was at odds with the ANC politburo.

A meeting was duly set up to iron out differences and the two sides claimed to have had a robust meeting and pledged to work for healthier relations; until the next outburst that is.

I thought the President rather spoiled the effect by reserving his right to have another tantrum whenever he felt the integrity of the ANC was challenged. While I can fully sympathise with the President's irritation at shoddy reporting and sensationalist journalism, I am not at all certain that we should be content to allow the ANC to be the final arbiter on what is and what is not fair criticism.

Although Mr Mandela pays sporadic lip service to press freedom, mouthing all the fashionable democratic platitudes about not wanting a "lap-dog press", at the same time he appears to want to control precisely what the press can say, particularly about the ANC.

I suspect that the agreement between the President and black journalists is little more than an uneasy truce and as soon as the next case of "unfair criticism" pops up we will have more Krokodilian finger wagging. Funny how some things never change.

The most extraordinary comment from the President though, and the one that only serves to reinforce the fears of the rapidly dwindling band of potential foreign investors, is his contention that "as long as the press is controlled by conservative whites we will continue to have a problem of senior black journalists expressing views which are not in conflict with their employers".

In other words, the meeting need not have happened because, whatever they may claim, Mr Mandela will never believe that black journalists are writing from the heart.

I have commented in this column before that the ANC seem to be making more use of racial slurs as it becomes glaringly apparent that they are not up to the task of governing this country.

WHAT precisely does he mean by "conservative whites" I wonder? Do the directors of Times Media or Independent Newspapers clandestinely dress in khaki uniforms at the weekend, drink mampoer and go to giraffe braais?

Or does the President really believe that management of newspapers is in the hands of people who have made no attempt to adapt to the new South Africa?

You could dismiss President Mandela's comments as just another presidential gaffe, or you could see in it a more sinister warning that the government is becoming less tolerant about continued white ownership of businesses. Businesses today, land tomorrow.