What price accountability?: ANC local councillors and the media

By Maeder Osler

President Cyril Ramaphosa’s sensational speech to ANC local councillors at last week’s ‘roll call’ rally in Johannesburg and the DA’s bombshell announcement of Helen Zille as mayoral candidate for the City of Johannesburg (covered for us by both R.W. Johnson and Phakamisa Mayaba) has helped to focus attention on the local government elections, to be held at the end of next year. As always, media coverage – both of ongoing local governance as well as the elections — will play a very important role.

To his credit, Ramaphosa has consistently acknowledged the vital role a ‘free and independcent’ media in maintaining an effective democracy. Among other things, in a blog post titled ‘A thriving democracy needs a free media’ published on 8 May 2023, he wrote:

‘Media freedom is a pillar of our democratic order. Our journalists continue to be the standard-bearers for accountability and the empowerment of citizens. Media investigations have shone a spotlight on corruption, the abuse of vulnerable people, the targeting of whistle-blowers, and all manner of wrongdoing within the state, the private sector, academia and other sectors.

‘In South Africa, journalists are free to work without censorship, harassment or judicial sanction, even when harshly criticising those in positions of authority.

‘However, in recent years, there have been incidents where journalists have been threatened or assaulted in the course of their work. Some have been vilified on social media or targeted by political figures. As a society, we must condemn such actions and work to prevent them.

‘It is indeed important for the media to hold those in authority in government, business and civil society to account in the public interest. At the same time, the media has an important role to play in educating and informing citizens on the issues that matter most to them.

‘Next year the country heads to a general election. As citizens prepare to exercise this important civic responsibility, the media should use its reach and influence to encourage more citizens to register to vote. It should make a greater effort to cover issues in communities that sometimes receive little coverage in the mainstream media. Without seeking to unduly influence voters, the media should focus on the critical issues that matter to people when they need to decide who to vote for.’

Well said. The problem is that, in my experience, some ANC local councillors hold very different views of the media, whatever their leaders or official party policies might say.

That includes my experiences as a local government reporter for The Argus newspaper in the 1970s; joint editor of the Toverberg Indaba community news journal based in Colesberg in the 1990s also covering the pre-interim and interim phases of the new local government system; interim councillor on the Eboya rural council (representing the then ANC) in the early years after the transition; then briefly as a correspondent for Die Volksblad daily newspaper based in Bloemfontein (primarily about veld fires in farming areas in the newly established Umsobomvu Local Municipality).

In the early 2000s, as a reporter as well as a local ratepayer, I attended a meeting in Colesberg of the Umsobomvu Local Council to witness how the new democracy was working at the local level. This did not work out well.

Immediately after the close of the ordinary meeting, a senior ANC council member directed a hysterical tirade at myself and the media in general. She gathered ANC council members around her, raved against the media, and effectively required me to leave the council premises.

Since then, perhaps not surprisingly, the ANC dominance of the council has waned steadily, and the ANC has become increasingly factionalised.

So here we are, at the start of another vital election, which will (all role players and observers agree) have far-reaching consequences for South Africa and its future. It follows that the role of the media – as described so accurately by our president – will also be vital, ultimately to help citizens assess the performance of their local councils and councillors, and make more informed choices. The problem is that some local councillors – especially some ANC councillors who seem comfortably dug into power — may still not agree.

FEATURED IMAGE: The Umsobomvu Council in January 2022. Source: Umsobomvu Local Municipality Facebook page.