What young Afrikaners can learn from Nelson Mandela about freedom of expression

A childhood friend, Simphiwe Sesanti, who is the only African lecturer at the Stellenbosch School of Journalism invited me to deliver a talk to post-graduate students last Monday.

Following is the talk I delivered to, mostly, young Afrikaner boys and girls who are the future media leaders of this country:

“I am proud to come to this university, this town, as the guest of an African lecturer who has symbolised the fighting spirit and determination of Africans not only to reclaim their rightful place, but to be agents of the change they want to see happen in this country.

And I am proud to visit this campus, this class, as a former student, the first African to be admitted to the school of journalism. It has been my dream to come back here.

When I first came here in 1986, the country was in the throes of war, birth pangs if you will. And most of you were toddlers on your mother’s backs or in your father’s arms.

I am thankful that you have allowed me some time to speak to you and share with you what I think the future will demand of you.

We are all blessed to be living in these times. The Chinese, who have been declared “black,” say, “May you live in interesting times.”

We live in interesting times, indeed, where we observe not a political party in crisis but the victory of freedom of thought and speech. There is no reason for anyone to panic. We are not in a crisis. What we see is the celebration of freedom of expression and self-determination, symbolising the courage to stand up for what people think is right. People are throwing away their mental chains and claiming what rightfully belongs to them: freedom of expression.

What is happening in the ruling party symbolises an end as well as a beginning; signifies a renewal as well as change. For I can tell you, now, that the dawn of freedom brought a lot of self-imposed oppression among African people, especially blacks who belonged to the ruling party. It was fear that ruled the executive council of the most powerful political party on the African continent.

But the world we live in now, which we inherited from Nelson Mandela when he stepped down as the first president of a free nation, is different. We hold in our hands the courage to speak truth to power to witness and experience total freedom and liberation. And yet many of us, including in the media, have exercised self-censorship and fear because of our indebtedness to those who employ us and give us opportunities. The rights to freedom of expression, to be the person you want to be and to pursue the goals you have set for yourself as an individual is not a favour or privilege that comes from the generosity of those who have political and economic power. It is a right that has been granted you by the selflessness of those who died for this country so that we can be free.

We dare not forget that YOU are the heirs of that last revolutionary wave, the grand-children of Nelson Mandela who epitomises not only forgiveness and reconciliation but courage and freedom. I think what we should do when YOU leave this place to search and find new opportunities for yourselves, is that you must be aware that the torch has been passed to a new generation of South Africans who are not white or black but are … just South Africans! All the children who were born between 1985 and 1990 were born free. They were born into new times.

Granted, they came into the world, which was in a war-like situation where brother was pitted against brother because of differences in skin colour. But that is a past that is dead and gone. The children of the late-1980s are proud inheritors of a new world that Mandela started negotiating for while they were still in their mothers’ wombs.

The new South Africa is your proud heritage. You are the ones who should not only make it what you want it to be for your own children, but must be willing to fight to the bitter end for the creation and emergence of a non-racial and non-sexist society. As journalists, you will be the witnesses or prophets who will record the undoing of human rights to which Mandela gave his life and which you shall be expected to consolidate and entrench because the Constitution of this country demands that.

I think it would be fair to say, to quote poet June Jordan, “you are the ones we have been waiting for.” You are the new generation of journalists who should be willing to pay the price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any compatriot, oppose any political or economic power that threatens freedom of thought and expression or undermines human rights enshrined in the constitution.

I think our young journalists have nothing to lose. They should pledge to be agents of the change they want to see in this country. You shall be judged not by what you write or say but by what you do. You shall be judged by history created by a Mandela who will probably be dead when you celebrate the 50th anniversary of a free South Africa.

Of course, there will always be so-called young whites that think they are under siege and their future is bleak because of Affirmative Action. They may think they have no friends among black Africans. But the future of this country only belongs to South Africans who should not see each other as blacks or whites. It is only when this happens that you can hold hands to create a common future that unites you as nothing else but South Africans. Of course, journalists will be in the forefront of shaping this new vision. But if you are divided by race, there is little you can do.

Of course, there will be Africans who come with a sense of entitlement, talking of past injustices and the need for redress. Their desire will only be human and natural where they want to be Number One and gain a lead and an advantage. But this sense of entitlement that results in racism will need to be challenged not only by the so-called whites but by fellow patriots who are South Africans and believe that the future belongs to the best who should be judged on merit.

Of course, it will always be difficult to find blacks that support this view because it threatens their own future and self-interest. But we hope it will be much easier when people are not afraid to speak or express their thoughts.

It will always be good to remind ourselves that, in his final years, Nelson Mandela was vilified by his sons and the organisation that he gave his life for because he was not afraid to speak truth to power.

He epitomised freedom of thought and expression at a time when almost everyone in the ANC executive was ruled by fear; felt indebted to the most powerful leader who seized power to concentrate it in his two black hands.

What are you to do with the freedom of expression that has been bestowed upon you? What should you learn from the example of Nelson Mandela?

I think the role and responsibility of journalists is to help create a better world. In the context of our situation, journalists and the media in general should be a vehicle to articulate the hopes and aspirations of those who are struggling to break out of the bonds of HIV/Aids, poverty, unemployment, illiteracy and disease.

Journalists should use their freedom of expression to help them to help themselves, for whatever period is required. This has become the responsibility of Communists like Blade Nzimande. This has become the responsibility of trade unions like Cosatu. The big question is: where is the conscience of society? On whose side is the media, the journalists who are in pursuit of the Truth? Why is the media not doing the right thing, now?

In fact, we have a history of the media that has pledged its best efforts to help the poor and marginalised. But something seems to have happened after Mandela walked out of prison. The media has, in the name of freedom of expression and the media, turned against the poor and marginalised to pursue the profit margin. It has established and now pursues and adversarial relationship with the government of the people.

But if the journalists cannot use their freedom of expression to help the majority who are poor, it cannot save the few black elite and whites that monopolise the wealth of this country.

I truly believe that the torch has long been passed to a new generation of South Africans. I am talking about the grandchildren of Nelson Mandela who were born from 1980 to 1994. These are the children of freedom and democracy. They are not white or black. They are just South Africans.

To those who have had the privilege and honour to get the best education that South Africa has to offer, the times offer a special challenge: to be agents of the change you want to see. You have to do more than just reporting, writing stories or thumb suck analysis. You must convert your words into good deeds. You must be willing to stand up for what is right!

You need to forge a new alliance, form a partnership with communities to assist the poor and marginalised to do something to help themselves in casting off the chains of poverty and unemployment.

But this peaceful revolution, this transformation of our political landscape, this inculcation of new values cannot happen when journalists are afraid to speak truth to political and economic power. We should all understand that when journalists are interested in designer labels, posh cars, fat bank balances and plush homes and children who go to exclusive private schools, they are more part of the problem than part of the solution.

And let us admit that there can be no freedom of thought and expression in a situation where journalists have vested personal interest in corporate affairs; where they are so ambitious that they desire to be managers and CEOs and, ultimately, directors in the board of the company.

There should always be a wall of fire between those who pursue the Truth and those who live for Profit.

It is now 15 years since the ruling party ushered in a new era in our politics. To the African majority, the ruling party remains the last best hope in an age where the land is not being shared among those who work it, where the wealth has not be redistributed and where skin colour is believed to, largely, determine one’s fate.

But I think journalists have no business in getting involved in politics. They should remain non-partisan in their pursuit of truth, justice and peace.

Instead, journalists need to renew their pledge of support to the poor and marginalised, irrespective of their colour, ideology and class background. If need be, journalists are the ones who should prevent the ruling class from becoming a super power. This should be done to make people realise that they hold their own future in their own hands and have the right to give their support only to those who have their best interests at heart.

Finally, to those who think that journalism is just another profession like law or medicine, I want to offer one request: maybe do something other than journalism. This noble profession has descended into irrelevance and meaninglessness because there are far too many self-seeking journalists who want to be celebrities.

Of course, it is tempting and seductive to brush shoulders with the rich and famous. But there should be a hands-off approach to these relationships. They are neither your friends nor your enemies. You cannot be part of that which you must subject to critical scrutiny.

You cannot hold two opposing points of view in one head and remain sane. You cannot be a player and a referee at the same time. This is what has compromised the integrity of the profession. Let journalists know who they are, what their goals are and live their lives in a way that promotes high regard and esteem for their profession.

I guess there are no rights and wrongs. But we do have a constitution, which is the premier document to guide our conduct and attitude in this land that man cannot enjoy.

I am a journalist who was forced out of the newsroom because it was felt that I was ‘uncontrollable and unpredictable.’ I am a journalist who has joined government. I am a journalist who has been claimed by all the major ideological and political strands in the community. Perhaps I am no longer a journalist. But those who know say: just like a pirate, once a journalist always a journalist.

The future of this discipline is in your hands more than mine. In fact, the success or failure of journalists and the media in the next 20 to 30 years rests with you. You are the ones who have been selected by history and fate to take this profession to a higher level.

Ever since Nelson Mandela walked out of prison, he has summoned every newborn, especially the youth of today, to do what they need to do to entrench a non-racial and non-sexist society. It is our obligation to make democracy and freedom of expression work. The old man who gave his entire life for us to have freedom of expression may be in his last days.

If you read the self-serving testimony of a former Limpopo premier in the Sunday Times recently, Mandela has blown the trumpet to summon us again. This time it is not a call to bear arms. It is a call to speak truth to power, not to be afraid to challenge authority. He wants us to use our hard won freedom of expression to struggle against our common enemy: poverty, injustice, unemployment, illiteracy, corruption and disease.

In the long history of this country, there is no generation that has been called upon to defend freedom of expression and the media and be agents of the change they want to see. It is your responsibility. Welcome it. I do not believe any of you would want not to live in these interesting times. You re the ones we have been waiting for.

And so, future leaders of this great nation, I conclude by saying: do not look at how the ANC is destroying this country, if at all. Instead, what are you willing to do to build the non-racial, non-sexist and democratic South Africa of Nelson Mandela? What are you going to do to make this a better world?

The answer lies in each of our hearts.You are the ones we have been waiting for. You must be agents of what you want to see happen in this country.”