Democracy? Where??

One of the greatest insults to our democracy was thrown out in this last week, and no, I am not referring to "The Spear" but rather to the insults that came in the aftermath. Perhaps the biggest insult to our democracy went relatively unnoticed in comparison to the uproar created by the painting.

I am speaking about the City Press ordeal. Not only were the employees insulted and threatened but the ANC called for a national boycott of their newspaper. Need I remind you that the last time boycott’s plagued our country due to Freedom of Speech we were in the middle of trying to rid our country of a massively unjust political regime

Now please tell me how it took us seventeen years to go full circle?

How can a political party that used to fight for the Freedom of Speech change their values so drastically that they are now the oppressors of that very concept? I tell you this is the beginning of a very sad realization.

The worst part about it is that it went relatively unnoticed. There was such a huge uproar about a stupid painting and virtually no reaction to the fact that the ANC, our LEADING political party has come to represent the very worst part about the Apartheid Regime.

It saddens me that our government has come to the point where they truly believe that their people should respect them merely out of position. “People should not be afraid of their governments; Governments should be afraid of their people” (V for Vendetta, 2005).

In most countries the governments beg for the approval of their people, and should they not get it they work harder. In South Africa the government demands respect and should someone over step a minor boundary, the government goes crazy and ends up boycotting a major newspaper.

Now, I am all for boycotting! It is a very efficient way of getting your point across but it has to be for just reasons and I’m afraid that this reason is just largely obscure. City Press happens to have a picture of a painting done by a satirical artist on their website. Sounds like every other newspaper in the world to me!

I worry that this is a major step backwards, and that this time we may not recover it.