The potential showdown between the media (and advocates of media freedom) and the South African government (which at least in this case means the ANC) continues to resonate and worry observers of the country’s political scene. It seems to me that the government would want to err on the side of avoiding being lumped in with those countries that restrict media rights (a most recent example involves The Gambia, but one does not need to work hard to find other examples). One would also think that the ANC, of all political parties, would understand that a fully free press is essential to any functioning democracy given how the National Party cracked down on the media during the Apartheid era.
The ANC needs to back off on the proposed tribunal. They need to table the idea, or to form a committee that never actually reports back, or if they report back they need to say the country does not need a tribunal after all, or do something to back out gracefully and to let this issue meet the death it deserves.
