World Press Freedom day (3 May) is a date which celebrates the principles of press freedom, to evaluate and defend the media from attacks on their independence and to pay tribute to journalists who have lost their lives in the exercise of their profession.
World Press Freedom day also acts as a reminder to governments of the need to respect and commitment to press freedom.
It serves as an occasion to inform citizens of violations of press freedom – a reminder that in dozens of countries around the world, publications are censored, fined, suspended and closed down, while journalists, editors and publishers are harassed, attacked, detained and even murdered.
World Press Freedom Day was proclaimed by the UN General Assembly in 1993 following a Recommendation adopted at the twenty-sixth session of UNESCO’s General Conference in 1991. This in turn was a response to a call by African journalists who in 1991 produced the Windhoek Declaration on media pluralism and independence.
The media in South Africa commemorates the 41st anniversary of the infamous “Black Wednesday” which happened on the 19 October 1977, The World and Weekend World newspapers and several organisations were banned.
We have come a long way to media freedom in this country. Being Africa’s oldest community radio station project, which at one stage faced the full wrath of the apartheid government, we feel it is our duty and responsibility to promote accurate and fair reporting.
Bush Radio does not have the resources to be a “breaking news” station, but it is our duty to be accurate and give our listeners an opportunity to make up their own minds. This however can only happen if we present all sides of any argument, through good research and having access to role-players like politicians on a local, provincial and national level – this is proving harder and harder as officials simply refuse to comment or respond to questions from our newsroom and producers.
We call on all role-players who have an interest in improving the lives of the people on the Cape Flats to be accessible, especially to community media who truly speak and represent the people of Cape Town. It is only by engaging on the hard questions that we can truly claim to be improving the lives of citizens – and being a platform where people and audience can engage with political and social leaders. Thereby learning, healing and growing this wonderful city.
As a place where many young journalists start in their careers, we call upon our audience to hold us accountable and engage with us around our reporting and broadcasts.
Background on Black Wednesday:
On this day in 1977 in South Africa, then Minister of Justice Jimmy Kruger, banned The World and Weekend World newspapers by stating that these publications were “publishing inflammatory material that threatened the nation’s security” and the paper’s editor Percy Qoboza and other journalists were arrested and jailed.
19 organisations were also banned and apartheid critics were detained.
The organisations banned were BPC, SASO, Black Community Programmes, Black Parents Association, Black Women’s Federation, Border Youth Organisation, Eastern Province Youth Organisation, Medupe Writers Association, Natal Youth Organisation, National Youth Organisation, SASM, Soweto Students Representative Council, Soweto Teachers Action Committee, Transvaal Youth Organisation, Union of Black Journalists, Western Cape Youth Organisation, Zimele Trust Fund, Association for the Educational and Cultural Advancement of African People of South Africa.
Banning orders were also served on Beyers Naude and journalist Donald Woods.
We are saddened by the loss of Judge Essa Moosa who had served as Bush Radio trustee and mentor at the formal establishment of the station in the early 1990s. Judge Moosa helped ensure that Bush Radio became the pioneering community radio station it is today and that the voice of all communities are heard.
Even though Judge Moosa was no longer a trustee of the station, he followed developments in the media and the station closely, and was a regular on-air guest to highlight the challenges faced by the Kurds through his work with the Kurdish Human Rights Action Group.
His lessons of dignity, self-pride, searching for knowledge and fighting for the rights of all are values we cherish and strive to maintain and pass on to all the young people who are now part of the station.
The above clip is from the Bush Radio documentary Partial Eclipse. Judge Essa Moosa confronts officials from the apartheid regime Post Office, police and security Special Branch as they raid Bush Radio offices in 1993 to confiscate and charge members of the station for broadcasting illegally.
Judge Essa Moosa passed away in Cape Town on February 26, 2017.
We salute you
A brief biography of Essa Moosa*
Judge Essa Moosa was born on 8 February 1936 in District Six, Cape Town. He qualified as an Attorney-at Law and was admitted to practice by the High Court of the Supreme Court, Cape Town on 1 June 1962. He practised as an Attorney in Cape Town until December 1997 and in 1998 was appointed as a judge of the High Court of the Supreme Court in Cape Town, officially retiring on 8 February 2011. He has six siblings, is married and continues to live in Cape Town.
Specialising in human rights issues for almost 40 years, he challenged, in court violations of basic human rights such as detention without trial, freedom of expression, freedom of movement, security and emergency legislations and regulations. During this time he acted for a number of prominent non-governmental organisations, community based organisations, leading political and community activists. In 2012 the University of the Western Cape conferred an Honorary Doctorate in law on him in recognition of his contribution in the field of human rights.
He was a founding and executive member of the National Association of Democratic Lawyers and chaired its Human Rights Committee. He was a member of the Constitutional Committee of the African National Congress (ANC), which gave logistical support to the ANC negotiation team for the establishment of a democratic, non-racial and non-sexist South Africa. He also served as the Provincial Election Agent for the ANC in the region of the Western Cape for the first democratic elections in April 1994.
In addition he serves in a voluntary position as trustee of the University of the Western Cape, a position he has held for more than 20 years. He has also served as the Chairperson of the Council of the Peninsula Technicon and later as a member of the Council until the merger of the institute with the Cape Technicon. He was a founding member and trustee of the community based media initiatives including; Bush Radio, Grassroots Publications, Saamstaan Newspaper (Southern Cape) and South Newspaper.
Today marks the 20th anniversary of Bush Radio‘s illegal broadcast (25 April 1993) which forced the issue of community broadcasting onto the legislative agenda in South Africa and paved the way for the airwaves to be opened and the development of a vibrant community radio sector.
Within days of the broadcast, authorities (police, members of the security branch and post office officials) seized the station’s equipment and arrested two staff members. Following intense local and international lobbying efforts, however, the case was dismissed and Bush Radio was granted a broadcast license on 1 August 1995.
On the 9th August 2012, National Women’s Day, we kick off a month of celebration at Bush Radio as we reach 17 years of legal community radio broadcasting in South Africa. Besides some of the fun activities planned for our birthday month we are also taking the opportunity of looking back and reflecting on the struggle to free the airwaves in South Africa and look at how we keep it free.
Bush Radio is also in the process of digitising its extensive archive of recordings and photographs and below is a sample of some the pictures – see if you can spot yourself and if you have material that you think belongs in the archive let us know.
World Press Freedom day (3 May) is a date which celebrates the principles of press freedom, to evaluate and defend the media from attacks on their independence and to pay tribute to journalists who have lost their lives in the exercise of their profession.
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