Are newspapers receptive to civil society voices? I argue that in my experience newspapers need to do much more to provide a voice to civil society.
For more clips visit SACSIS. The organisers have captured the essence of the engagement as follows:
SACSIS and the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung South Africa Office. The roundtable examined the media’s perspective of the South African economy.Other media speakers at the event included, Nic Dawes (Editor in Chief, Mail & Guardian), Alide Dasnois (Editor, Cape Times) and Reg Rumney (Head of the Centre for Economics Journalism in Africa, Rhodes University). Editors were asked to answer the following questions: Is the economy on the right growth path? What are the prospects for making it more inclusive? How does the media report on the economy? Does the media have a vision for South Africa’s economic development?
(Still a little strange to be posting clips of myself online.)
We have been here before. The third major public service strike since 1994 is upon us. During the first major public service strike since democracy, in 1999, trade unions suffered a significant defeat with government’s unilateral implementation of wages. But in 2007, public service unions turned the tables on government conducting an unprecedented strike, and building an unlikely coalition with departments responsible for frontline service delivery. This resulted in the introduction of occupational specific dispensations (OSDs) that put new occupational classifications, promotions and grading systems in place.
A reminder to the ANC that it needed to deepen democracy in society arrived at the ANC’s Polokwane conference, where one major gripe against President Mbeki was that he had failed to create “policy coherence” amongst the ANC and its alliance partners, let alone the broader society. Mbeki was criticised for insulating public policy through technocratic methods, and failing to build consensus in society beyond the so-called chattering classes. Whilst Mbeki’s vision for a post-colonial society that worked rested on making unpopular decisions, it was at least palpable.
President Jacob Zuma’s administration repeats Mbeki’s mistake, but in more hidden ways. Nevertheless, it’s exactly the same thing: attempting to insulate public policy choices from contestation in society, and as a consequence failing to build policy consensus in society. This is most visible in the establishment of various presidential panels to advise on key policy areas of black economic empowerment (BEE), state owned enterprises (SOE) and developing the national plan.
This conversation from the movie Before Sunset provides a reason why the people who provide the little achievements of the day should be resting on Mandela Day.
Céline: Yes, of course. (Hands him a cigarette.) Um, here. (He takes the cigarette and taps it 3 times on the table.) In my field, I see these people that… (Hands him her cigarette so he can light the one she has given him.)…uh, sorry…come into it with big idealist visions of becoming the new leader that will create a better world. They enjoy the goal, but not the process!
Jesse: Right.
Céline: But the reality of it is that the true work of improving things is in the little achievements of the day. And that’s what you need to enjoy, just in that field.
Jesse: What, what do you mean, exactly?
Céline: Well, for example, I was working for this organization that helped villages in Mexico. And their concerns was how to get the pencils sent to the kid in these little country schools. I was not about big revolutionary ideas, it was about pencils. I see the people that do the real work and what’s really sad, in a way, is that…the people that are the most giving, hard working and capable of making this world better, usually don’t have the ego and ambition to be a leader. They don’t see any interest in superficial rewards, they don’t care if…if their name ever appear in the press. They actually enjoy the process of helping others, they’re in the moment.
But, the amazing people that run the trauma unit, provide counselling, raise funds, take the extra steps in schools and hospitals will not take the time to rest. The activists that make it easy for us to give money, because our time is so limited. Their commitment is of a different scale, built on a strength that many of us cannot have. There is a moral and ethical strength in facing poverty and inequality each day. Analyst like myself write about poverty and inequality – sometimes with distance, more often with activism intended – and the real test is both whether we can face the daily realities, and develop ideas that help the activists that run development programmes.
I hope these people rested on Mandela Day, and gave a little time to their family and friends.
