“A decade and four years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure.

We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting-place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. But in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead who struggled here have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract.

The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us–that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion–that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.”

— The Gettysburg Address, with very minor changes to the first sentence only

Today we are being advised that the ANC president, potentially our president in waiting, is of the view that our media are politically and ideologically out of sync with the society in which they exist, once again raising fears that the media may be subjected to parliamentary watchdogs, censorship or, in some cases, an outright ban.

Ironically the media are accused of bias by parties who are, if you read their intentions, about to limit the media content to what they deem desirable. Goodbye, bias; hello, government mouthpiece.

This coming at a point in our history when the government is not only torn between two power centres but incredibly, in this day and age, unable to deliver the power (electricity) that this country needs.

If the Eskom disaster is not remedied soon, the question of uplifting the poor will be overtaken by the issue of survival as millions of jobs become forfeit. Gone will be the question of right versus left within a monocracy and in its place will be the question of how this country will maintain itself without massive aid programmes from abroad.

Instead of concerning ourselves about which segments of the police, state and the party are involved with which side of the corruption debates, the media may soon consider them irrelevant when compared with a humanitarian disaster of epic proportions.

That is just for starters.

As our president-in-waiting who is in touch with society, could you perhaps advise us on the following:

  • Are our ladies at ease with your guest appearance at the banquet of a convicted rapist? I ask this of you as the former accused in a rape case who more than anyone else should be aware of how insensitive your actions seem.
  • You have done a deal with Rapport less than a week ago and yet within days you are suing it again and almost the entire media (still) for remarks made against you. Are we to assume that you cannot be criticised? Will you be able to deal with the enormous pressure that is about to be visited on our economy in the ordinary course, now with Eskom thrown in and, call me crazy, the concerns that you are creating by threatening to tether the media, swallow the Scorpions and intimidate the judiciary? How will you uplift anyone when disinvestment and a mass exodus ensue?
  • Are your continued threats against any dissent from the government, appointments within the NWC and now the media designed to heal the rift between the parties post-Polokwane?

    • If that is being in touch with society, then not even God will help us.

    The reality is that the people are looking for the ANC to unify itself, speak with one sensitive voice and show us that the transition to a new and improved government under your leadership is under way: an ANC that conducts its feuds behind closed doors, led by a president who is accessible to the people.

    This means writing the weekly newsletter, speaking to the media, addressing the considerable concerns regarding the power shortage and unity rift in the party.

    Like the people who died at Gettysburg, so too have many people died on the road to our multiracial democracy. This has been entrusted to us by our forefathers, the founders and people who have brought us to this point

    I watched you at Polokwane and became a fan of your charisma and charm — kindly marry that to the desperate need for leadership that this country needs right now. Elitism and a siege mentality are what we abandoned in 1994.

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    Michael Trapido

    Michael Trapido

    Mike Trapido is a criminal attorney and publicist having also worked as an editor and journalist. He was born in Johannesburg and attended HA Jack and Highlands North High Schools. He married Robyn...

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