Freedom of Expression News from South Africa - (6-11 June)

ACCESS TO INFORMATION: A Johannesburg High Court Judge, Justice Robert Nugent, on June 6 turned down an application by the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) to subpoena the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) to release details of an amnesty application of an African National Congress (ANC) security guard, Neo Potsane. The IFP’s  application was made during the inquest into the killing of 18 people outside the ANC’s headquarters in Johannesburg in March 1994 following a march by thousands of IFP supporters. Justice Nugent is heading the inquest. Earlier in the inquest, Potsane revealed that he had applied to the TRC for amnesty in relation to the incident, sparking the application by the IFP. In turning down the application,  Justice Nugent said: "I have already said that in my view a witness is not obliged to disclose whether he has applied for amnesty, and indeed has a duty not to do so." In terms of the TRC legislation, amnesty applications are confidential. On June 9, another ANC bodyguard  testifying in the inquest, Moses Veli Llale, refused to answer a question by the IFP legal counsel on whether he had applied for amnesty.

ACCESS TO INFORMATION: Lawyers for former State President PW Botha confirmed on June 8 that President Nelson Mandela had granted Botha access to Cabinet and State Security Council minutes dating back to the apartheid-era to enable him to answer questions from the TRC. The Chairman of the TRC, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, also granted Botha access to documents which the TRC had in its possession. Late last year in meeting between Botha and Tutu, the TRC handed Botha a list of questions covering the period 1960 to 1989, when Botha stepped down from government. The questions reportedly related to policy decisions, specific incidents, strategy shifts and differences in management styles between Botha, his predecessor John Vorster and the man who took over the presidency from Botha, FW de Klerk. Botha’s lawyer said President Mandela had agreed to make available documents kept by his office and gave permission for the lawyers to peruse security council and cabinet minutes in the national archives. In terms of the National Archives Act, state documents, such as cabinet minutes, dating back to 20 years are available for public perusal in the national archives. Access to state documents after this period can be granted at the discretion of the National Archivist.

Still with Botha, his official biography written by a former aide, Daan Prinsloo, will be released later this month - three years after then Deputy President De Klerk tried to censor the book by crossing out all the politically embarrassing statements made by him. The author was forced to submit the book to De Klerk at the time because it contained confidential cabinet minutes and De Klerk’s permission was needed in order to proceed with publication. However, the Sunday Independent newspaper reported on June 7 that the book had not been expunged of the parts De Klerk apparently tried to censor after President Mandela gave Botha permission in 1995 to publish confidential cabinet minutes, overruling De Klerk’s decision.

ACCESS TO INFORMATION: Justice Minister Dullah Omar revealed in Parliament on June  5 that the police were currently engaged in a "top priority" investigation into the mysterious disappearance of the inquest docket into the murder of Durban human rights activist Victory Mxenge. Omar was informed by the KwaZulu-Natal attorney-general that a member of the investigation team into the murder of Mxenge had searched for the inquest docket at the magistrate’s court where the inquest was held and were the record was supposed to have been kept, but could not find it. Omar said in Parliament that "sinister forces" were behind the disappearance of the document. Mxenge was shot outside her business premises in 1985. Earlier that same year, her husband, human rights lawyer Griffiths Mxenge,  was knifed and hacked to death. His three murderers were convicted of the crime last month, and they have applied to the TRC for amnesty.

TELECOMMUNICATIONS ACCESS - The South African Telecommunications Authority (SATRA) ruled on June 11 that Telkom, the parastatal which enjoys a monopoly over telecommunications services, could not claim an exclusive right to provide Internet access. The matter was brought to SATRA by the Internet Service Providers Association (ISPA), which represents private Internet service providers, after ISPA accused Telkom of unfair business practices after Telkom launched the South African Internet Exchange (SAIX) in April last year. ISPA said Telkom had an unfair technical advantage because it was the sole telephone network provider, while Telkom was further accused of unfairly cross-subsidising SAIX. As a result of the complaint, Telkom in a submission to SATRA sought to classify Internet service provision as a basic service, which would have given it exclusive rights to run the national grid for six years in terms of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. If it had succeeded in gaining exclusivity rights, private service providers would more than likely have been forced out of business. SATRA is currently in the process of hiring an auditing firm to check whether Telkom is unfairly cross-subsiding SAIX and engaging in discriminatory pricing.

PUBLIC BROADCASTING: The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) has denied that it had been plunged into a crisis as a result of the recent resignations and departures from its senior television news management. SABC spokesman Enoch Sithole said in the Sowetan newspaper on June 6 that a crisis at the corporation would exist if, "There was a news blackout and everybody at the corporation was in the streets and there was no news production". Sithole said: "By any stretch of the imagination, a few resignations cannot be said to constitute a crisis." Meanwhile, the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) has called for a public inquiry into the problems at the SABC. The call was made by PAC Secretary-General Michael Muendane in a debate in Parliament. In other developments at the SABC, the corporation announced on June 10 the appointment of a 10-member task team to advise newly-appointed editor of television news Allistar Sparks on ways of improving the service. The team, which would consist of senior staff in the fields of politics, news gathering, current affairs, production and economics, would study newsroom structures and processes in the television news department. A SABC statement said the aim would be to advise Sparks with a view to achieving greater efficiency. The appointment of Sparks last week was criticised for among others the fact that he did not have any proven experience in broadcasting.

MEDIA AND HUMAN RIGHTS: The South African Union of Journalists (SAUJ) on June 11 requested the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) to investigate the State’s subversion of the media  during apartheid. The request was contained in the union’s submission to the TRC  on the role of the media during apartheid. The SAUJ said such an investigation should be conducted especially in regard to the SABC but also in regard to the placing of spies and informers in the newsroom. It said the aim should be of sign-posting and preventing such subversion in future. The SAUJ in its submission found that there had been serious shortcomings within the mainstream English press with regard to the coverage of Apartheid and the forces opposing it. However, it said that, "Many of the shortcomings were the result not so much of personal culpability but of institutional weaknesses." The union said it believed "the commercial nature of the mainstream English media, coupled with the repressive legal and political framework, led to editorial compromise". The SAUJ also noted the hostile attitude of the Afrikaans-language press towards the union and appealed to Afrikaans journalists to make submissions to the TRC. In an attachment to the SAUJ’s submission, journalist Jimmy Beaumont requested the TRC to expunge his criminal record resulting from his conviction in terms of the Official Secrets Act. While working as a journalist for The Star newspaper in the late 70's, Beaumont attempted to make public top secret documents relating to, among others, the-then unknown South African military activities on Angola. The documents were intercepted by the police, leading to his conviction.

DEFAMATION: The Kooperatiewe Wijnbouwers Vereeniging (KWV), which regulates the South African wine industry, has threatened legal action against any media which carried reports of an alleged scam in which the KWV is alleged to have sold fake champagne. The alleged scam was reported in the Business Day and Mail & Guardian newspapers on June 6. A KWV spokesman warned that any media carrying reports of the alleged scam were in for an "expensive highjump". The spokesman said KWV viewed the allegations as serious and potentially damaging towards KWV’s reputation and goodwill. The company has not instituted any legal action to date.