Respect for press freedom and a free flow of information are necessary for a vibrant and healthy democracy. Are we saying farewell to democracy in South Africa? While other African countries are being acknowledged for improved press freedom by the United Nations, South Africa has been receiving widespread condemnation from human rights and media organisations because of the new Protection of State Information Bill, commonly known as the “secrecy bill.” There are many questions regarding what the bill means for the Republic of South Africa and it has become a hot topic in both international and South African media. The international community has expressed concerns that the proposed laws could threaten media freedom. The Secrecy Bill may be a necessary replacement for Apartheid-era legislation, but in its current form it would obstruct the access to information that citizens need in order to ensure transparent and accountable governance. Because South Africa is a country that has always taken pride in promoting human rights since the struggle for democracy, passing the Protection of State Information Bill has raised concerns among civil society, human rights activists, the media, and opposition parties.

After two years of deliberations, on the 25th of April, the National Assembly decided to pass the Secrecy Bill. Ironically, this decision was made only two days before South Africa celebrated its Freedom Day. Despite the many attempts at improvements, the Bill still falls short of the high standards of good governance called for by the South African Constitution. The Bill in its current state seeks to regulate the classification of state information and advance public interest by protecting certain valuable information held by the State. It states that protection of information is justifiable for ‘national security’ or ‘national interest’ reasons but remains vague and unclear on definitions of these terms, for instance what is to be considered as public interest?

Critics have identified problematic areas of the Bill and raised several concerns about the excessive prison sentences recommended for journalists and whistle blowers, who should be protected under the law. They question whether the Bill will be used as a way to cover up government crimes and corruption as it limits the matters news media can report on, bringing South Africa closer to media censorship. It not only threatens investigative journalism, but it may also have the effect of limiting the information whistle blowers are willing to provide media officials out of fear for their safety. Effectively, the bill is attacking two key principles that underpin a democracy: access to information and freedom of speech.

The effects of the Bill have already been felt with the confusion, outrage and fear it has caused. Reporters Without Borders and Freedom House have dropped South Africa’s ranking in their indexes moving the republic from being “free” to being only “partly free.” People everywhere are eagerly waiting to see if South African President, Jacob Zuma, will sign the bill and pass it into law. The fight is not over yet. Opposition parties have vowed to continue petitioning that the bill is not signed into law and are prepared to challenge it all the way to the Constitutional Court. At this stage, for the future of South African democracy, it would be important to consider striking a proper balance between transparency and secrecy. The National Assembly should be reminded that an open exchange of information is vital to the kind of informed citizenry essential to a healthy democracy.

FURTHER READING

Daily Maverick: The security state of South Africa: Why you should be afraid, very afraid.

BBC: South Africa’s Secrecy Bill approved by Parliament

The Guardian: South African activists vow to fight after MPs pass “secrecy bill”

Business Day: DA urges Zuma not to sign ‘constitutionally flawed’ secrecy bill

In Gorging, the reader follows an unnamed female narrator into the world of pan-African conferences and “development” intellectuals. This conference takes place in Lagos, Nigeria and the reader quickly finds out that, the conference is “a site not just of professional and social rituals but of sexual tension.”

——

She is in the sweltering garden of a conference centre in yet another African city. Artfully spread out are immense life-like plants, bursting glossy green from pots shaped like cooking pots. A red-headed lizard scampers away, indignant. Two insistent shiny-blue flies land heavily on the table like toy helicopters. She is at one of the many NGO welfare workshops that bring Africans from all corners to dissect how similar are their lurching governments, how effectively they wield the machete of corruption, how widespread their epidemics of new politicians, churches, diseases and aid. Here she is again, in a strangely familiar foreign city.

This one, Lagos, is so much larger, sprawling high-rises and flyovers, with so much more grey, black and brown asphalt, buildings and dust, that she can do nothing but stare as she sits, sweltering, stuck and in monster traffic jams that eat up half the morning. As she crosses the longest bridge she has ever been on, she sees small wooden rough-skinned canoes and mud huts on stilts, a floating slum, on her left, and on her right, a skyline of skyscrapers. Eras skipped in a blink. This city is too hot, too humid, the voices too loud, gestures too emphatic, the bling too flamboyant, food too spicy, and the laughter so riotous it throws their bodies back and forth, possessing them.

To avoid a visitor’s clichés, she tells herself, she zeros in on one person, just one, at the opening cocktail in the Protea Hotel lounge; its orange and brown décor exactly like the one in Kampala and Capetown. She remembers him from Durban, but that was the large annual association meeting; they didn’t talk. He is from here, she knows. Too what? she wonders. He is her height, so looks directly into her eyes as he greets her, eyes heavy-lidded, assessing. Her eyes slide away. Does he hold her hand, pressing her palm, just a little too long? He isn’t just greeting; he is saying, Notice me—I’ve noticed you. Words, of course, are always more mundane.

We’ve met before, haven’t we? Chuma is my name.

Of course. Durban, last June. But I love Lagos—I’ll always come back.

How’ve you been? Pushing on?

The usual. We’ve got great speakers this time, don’t we?

His voice is the opposite of his dark face: high, mumbling, punctuated by a trilling laugh, soft, even feminine. He is too agreeable, too polite. I’ll get you a chair. Do you want some water? Try the Zain mobile line—good deals on international calls.

She is confused by messages of strength and weakness—is it weakness or charm? But she is just as busy being her nicest. She must charm. Everyone. She can’t help it. Laughing with open-mouthed vigour at the slightest hint of a joke. Working hard at being witty: Oh yes, of course I believe Nollywood; it’s African absurdity at its best. Copying the movie accents: I came back to Nigeria just for the pepper soup-oh! She can hear how shrill her voice is. Stop, stop, she tells herself, as she nods eagerly, and yet she doesn’t want more water. Is her lipstick still on? Are her teeth too prominent? Is her dreaded front tooth smeared with lipstick? Why is he looking at her mouth? Is that a good or bad thing? A whiff of sweat, hers, can he smell it? Is he just being polite, insisting on blah small talk, or what?

The back of her neck itches. She turns. A huge black Buddha is staring at her. No, at him. Squat, in large loose tent-like robes, all black, and sandals. He must be Nigerian too. His large bald head swims above, bulging eyes intense. Who is this? She smiles stiffly. His expression doesn’t change. Chuma waves at him then glides away from her to him. She feels the warm air shift.

Continue the story at the Caravan Website.

1. The Caravan Magazine: About

2. FEMRITE Uganda

3. Gorging

Why would she sell her own makeup brand when International ones existed?

Why would anyone want to buy her brand of makeup?

Why would people pay to have their makeup done when they could do it themselves?

Even without funding, Durotoye was not defeated. “Look within, you always have enough to start,” says Durotoye. That positive attitude helped her to think of creative ways to grow the business until they finally got funding.  She recalls that the story was inspirational but more importantly, they had the facts and figures to back it up. All of the previous questions were slowly being answered as House of Tara went from strength to strength each year. It did not happen overnight but  House of Tara has grown into a full-fledged beauty brand for African women with its own line of products, 11 branches across Nigeria and training schools for aspiring makeup artists. In addition, House of Tara allows young women to become distributors, over 15 years, they have recruited an estimated 3000 who have sold or are still selling the brand. This is Durotoye’s contribution to financially empowering young women.

Tara Fela-Durotoye

How did she go from one person with one makeup box going door to door to all of this? Consistency.

I did it and I did it consistently. That’s one of the things that you get when you are out there doing your work, you just don’t know how much people are watching and how far it’s going to take you.

Watch the rest of the 2012 interview which was part of Ndani TV‘s Platinum Standard series.

Links:

House of Tara Official Website

Tara Fela-Durotoye Blog

House of Tara Facebook

Ndani TV Official Website

Weekend Special was one of Fassie’s first hits in the early 1980s. Enjoy!

1. “We don’t have electricity.”

As you go about your day to day business there is one dreaded sight you hope to avoid. The one where all the shopkeepers/attendants  are standing in their doorways or sitting outside with THAT look on their face– the tell-tale sign that nothing productive is being done, they are just waiting. What are they waiting for? The electricity to return so that they can get back to work. We’ve become experts at being able to tell if there is electricity or not before even walking into an establishment. The electricity issues and frequent blackouts are well documented. According to the World Bank, Africa’s largest infrastructure deficit is in the power sector and we hear all about how that affects production and industries. Well, it is just as annoying for us, the customers! Sure, some of the bigger businesses can afford generators but many businesses cannot or do not get them.

2. “Our system is down.”

Technology is supposed to be making our lives easier but there are many times when systems just do not work properly. Frequent service outages and connectivity issues are frustrating. Whether it is the broadband connection that only works at odd hours of the night or the POS, at the supermarket, that is constantly out-of-order or the banking system that cannot make your transfer  – it may be less disappointing to operate as though these systems do not exist by always expecting to do things offline.  A Dalberg report on the Impact of the Internet in Africa discusses the positive growth effects that widespread broadband access has but acknowledged that it remains widely untapped across Africa. While service providers build capacity to make connections faster and more reliable, we will cherish those once in a while, pleasant surprise moments when systems are up and running perfectly.

3. “We don’t have change.”

 Change can prove to be elusive in day-to-day transactions, especially those early in the morning. Informal traders do not have the luxury of getting the perfectly bound various denominations of cash from a bank so they have to figure out ways to make change. It is not uncommon to have a trader ask strangers around him for change during your transaction; if you are a regular he may let you buy on “credit” and pay later in the day or you may feel comfortable enough to buy and collect your change later. In some extreme cases like in Zimbabwe, the U.S. dollar is the currency but there are no coins. A trip to a supermarket can result in receiving change in the form of: a pen, a box of matches or store credit. Often times it results in consumers picking up additional things just to  make sure they have a round figure and avoid the change dilemma. Consumers find a way to make it work, but the situation is not ideal, to say the least.

4. “It’s coming next week.”

With many business owners importing their wares it is relatively common to have to wait, sometimes long periods of time, for items you want. You will be told that the shipment is coming next week or next month, it’s stuck at the border, it just left China, or someone just went to London to buy it. The waiting game is never any fun, more so when the part needed to get your car back on the road is not available locally and has to be shipped from overseas. All you can do is hope that “next week” really does mean the next week because there are many opportunities for something to go wrong along the distribution chain.

5. “We don’t have that today.”

I have found myself asking, why read a menu and get my hopes up about my options only to hear, “We don’t have that today” after everything I try to order. I’ve learned to save time and just ask them what it is that they do have. Only Chicken and Beef? Okay, I will ignore the Lamb, Fish, and Pork that are also listed on the menu.  Sometimes you begin to wonder if certain items are on the menu for decoration because they have never been available when you asked.

Please feel free to add to the list, what are you, as an African consumer, tired of hearing?

Tweet us: @isthisafrica or Facebook us!

The subthemes are: Ensuring the safety of journalists and media workers, combating impunity of crimes against press freedom,  and online safety.

Across Africa many journalists and media workers are under attack. They face intimidation, threats, and even violence. The situation is especially bad in Somalia, last year alone 18 journalists were killed.  One journalist recently wrote about the challenges media workers face in his article entitled the deadly job of being a journalist in Somalia.   In addition, Reporters Without Borders describes Somalia as the second worst place in the world for journalists and media workers, after Syria. They also describe East Africa as a region of “censorship and crackdowns” in the same 2013 Press Freedom Index. Elsewhere on the continent, the negative effect of political instability on press freedom was noted in Mali and Guinea-Bissau. In South Africa, parliament passed the controversial “secrecy bill” which has been heavily criticized amid fears that it will be used to “persecute whistleblowers and stifle press freedom.” A great deal of work remains to be done across the continent in order to foster environments that are support and promote press freedom.

2013 World Freedom Day Prize

This year’s winner is imprisoned Ethiopian journalist, Reeyot Alemu. The prize is given in honor of Guillermo Cano, a Colombian newspaper Editor who was assassinated in 1986 for denouncing drug trafficking rings and their harmful effects. It was established in 1997 and is awarded to a person or organization that has made a contribution to the defense and/or promotion of press freedom.

[Alemu] wrote critically about political and social issues, focusing on the root causes of poverty, and gender equality. She worked for several independent media. In 2010 she founded her own publishing house and a monthly magazine called Change, both of which were subsequently closed. In June 2011, while working as a regular columnist for Feteh, a national weekly newspaper, Ms Alemu was arrested. She is currently serving a five-year  sentence in Kality prison.²

Past winners include Christina Anyanwu (Nigeria) and Geoffrey Nyarota (Zimbabwe).

Top 5 African Countries With Most Press Freedom

In compiling their Press Freedom Index, Reporters Without Borders considers many criteria “ranging from legislation to violence against journalists.”

19. Namibia

25. Cape Verde

30. Ghana

40. Botswana

43. Niger

Eritrea is at the very bottom of the entire index. Are you surprised by this list? What do you think about press freedom in your country? Let us know!

1. About World Press Freedom Day

2. UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize

Reporters Without Borders 2013 Press Freedom Index

We have all the episodes here for you. Each episode has English subtitles because the linguistic diversity of South Africa is on full display as characters frequently switch languages.  Watch the show and let us know what you think.

For more on Intersexions

Website: http://www.intersexions.co.za/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Intersexions 

Episode 1: Zolile and Nomzamo fall in love despite the bitter rivalry between their families. Nomzamo later witnesses an intimate moment between her mother and a man who is not her father.

Episode 2: Nomzamo is forced to cut ties with Zolile after her mother’s secret lover is revealed. The frustrations and hurt leads Zolile back into Khanya’s arms.

Episode 3: After being humiliated by Zolile, Khanya tries to boost her self-esteem but things take a dramatic turn.

Episode 4: A self-righteous clinic Matron is faced with a dilemma when her daughter Rosie returns from university not the innocent and obedient child that left. She stops at nothing in an attempt to save her reputation.

Episode 5: In an effort to recover from her ordeal, Rosie goes on a night out with the girls after being invited to a party by charming soccer star Two-Step. After one too many drinks Rosie is haunted by her past mistakes and must make quick decisions.

Episode 6: Is there more to Sizwe and Two-Step’s friendship than meets the eye? The truth may be revealed as a tabloid journalist probes, following a rumour. It is later revealed who the surprising source of the rumour was.

Episode 7: Sizwe and Bontle pick up where they left off when Sizwe returns to his hometown. She is keeping a secret from him but when he finds out, Bontle is shocked by his plan and decides to end the relationship. Finally, she sees Sizwe for who he really is.

Episode 8: Lorraine, Bontle’s lesbian cousin falls victim to a brutal act of cruelty at the hands of local thugs. She receives counseling and takes emergency medication. She makes her journey to recovery but is justice done to her attackers?

Episode 9: Godwin, a prominent businessman and a seemingly respected family man, is living a double life. His arrogance leads him to have a sordid affair right under his suspecting but oblivious wife, Thandeka’s nose.

Episode 10: After coming face to face with an embarrassing and painful STI, Sdumo, a young man from rural KZN, takes responsibility for his actions by seeking treatment and coming clean to all his sexual partners before leaving town.

Episode 11: Sdumo moves to Joburg and meets Mandy and immediately likes her. He now needs to come clean to Mandy about his not so squeaky clean past. Is he man enough to risk losing the love and belonging he has just found?

Episode 12: Sdumo’s polygamist father Musa, learns the hard way that, cheating, even if you are in a polygamist marriage has dire consequences.

Episode 13: Lerato witnesses her husband, Thapelo in a very compromising position. Not wanting to destroy their business partnership and marriage, she makes a strategic decision on how to deal with him as she has bigger news of her own. His reaction to her news and plans surprises her.

Episode 14: Young and upcoming Pastor, Rex is tormented with desire for a young and beautiful woman he’s taken under his wing. Does Rex give into temptation or give the young woman the break she desperately needs?

Episode 15 —Coming soon. Check back!

The BudgIT team (via www.bellanaija.com)

BudgIT believes that public data should be readily available and that is the reason for the platform. We share BudgIT’s ideology that,” in a democracy, every citizen has the right to know how his/her taxes are expended in the delivery of public infrastructure and services.” In 2012, The Nigerian government came under fire after terminating the government-funded fuel subsidy, claiming that the money would be allocated to other parts of the budget for infrastructure projects among other things. Many were skeptical of this and protested until the subsidy was partially reinstated. A platform like BudgIT promotes openness and access to information which is important for citizens and would be a way for them to hold the government accountable for claims such as those made during the fuel subsidy protests.

BudgIT uses creative methods to present fiscal data. They are not simply rehashing the budget, but they are also presenting data on specific issues such as oil revenue and electrical power distribution. In an interview with BellaNaija, BudgIT co-founder, Oluseun Onigbinde* said, “We are committed to principles of open data and governance, citizen participation and data transparency.” Onigbinde also described challenges the BudgIT team has faced in terms of accessing information from local governments and the ever-present challenge of funding the venture. Despite the challenges, BudgIT continues to provide Nigerians with simple and understandable information about the nation’s budgetary planning, allocation and implementation. We applaud that.

*Onigbinde is an Electrical Engineering graduate who worked briefly in the banking sector.  

For More on BudgIT visit their website. www.yourbudgIT.com

Twitter: @BudgITng

Facebook: www.facebook.com/budgitng

Email: info@yourbudgit.com

An important rumination on youth in modern-day South Africa, this haunting debut novel tells the story of two extraordinary young women who have grown up black in white suburbs and must now struggle to find their identities. The rich and pampered Ofilwe has taken her privileged lifestyle for granted, and must confront her swiftly dwindling sense of culture when her soulless world falls apart. Meanwhile, the hip and sassy Fiks is an ambitious go-getter desperate to leave her vicious past behind for the glossy sophistication of city life, but finds Johannesburg to be more complicated and unforgiving than she expected. These two stories artfully come together to illustrate the weight of history upon a new generation in South Africa.*