Date: Wed, 5 Feb 1997 13:55:39 +0200 (SST)
Subject: M-G: Swaziland and Durban



Heita

European dope smokers know all about Swazi Red and Durban Posion but this
posting is about the societies behind the marijuana brand names. 

			SWAZIland goes RED

I don't know if events in Swaziland have been generating any or much media
attention outside of Africa. However you may be interested to know that
Swaziland is now in the third day of a national strike aimed at replacing
the monarchy with a democracy. A similar national strike last year failed
to unseat the monarchy and was crushed with the usual tactics. This year
there seems to be more resolve and arrests and detentions have not yet
deterred the movement for democracy. Cosatu (Congress of South African
Trade Unions) is calling for sympathy action and it looks as though South
African workers will be refuing to handle Swazi goods. I don't have any
detailed information but I thought that people might be interested to know
that the Swazi workers are taking this action. 

			DURBAN'S *REAL* POISON

I think that Bob forwarded the letter (below) to the list so if you have
read it is the same thing again. What this letter doesn't point out is
that all 5 of Durban's major newspapers are owned by the same company
(Independent Newspapers of Ireland). All of the papers are bourgoise and 
assume that all the usual shit about how America is the way the truth and 
the light. An Indian (ie from India) diplomat recently argued that they 
write about Africa like Western foreign correspondents do and he is correct.

Racism pervades our newspapers but while for most of them it takes the 
form of sins of omission the Daily News commits many sins of commission. 
It is proactively hostile to black people and it reads like a colonial novel.
(Neurotic fear of the black crowd etc, etc) If you wish to mail some 
comments to the editor you can do so on pather-AT-nn.independent.co.za . His 
name is Dennis Pather.

Stay Well 
Richard



THIS IS AN OPINION ON DURBAN'S NEWSPAPERS WHICH IS BEING PASSED AROUND BY
CONCERNED PEOPLE. READ IT. IF IT STRIKES A CHORD PASS IT ON TO OTHERS.

In 1995 Durban's newspapers were called "the worst in the English speaking
world" by a leading international media expert. Since then things have got
a lot worse. This communication isn't about incompetence, blindness,
ignorance or stupidity though. It's about the paranoid, hysterical racism
which infects our papers like a cancer and which is corrupting the way in
which we see ourselves, our city and its future. This is about a disease
that infects our social body. 

Racism manifests itself in our newspapers in many ways but its
consequences are always the same. It causes anger and hurt and it causes
people to focus on imagined problems instead of the real problems with
which our city is confronted. 

Racism is evident in many ways. This communication seeks to illustrate a
few examples of racism and to show how they prevent you from being able to
see your city as it really is. 

The lack of black journalists is an obvious place to start. Clearly there
are some white and Indian people who do have the language skills, the
historical understanding and the sensibility necessary to be able to
accurately report on an African country. 
 
However most of them do not and if the effort was made to appoint more
competent black journalists the depth of insight and understanding of our
papers would improve dramatically. Of course more black voices in the
newsroom would also mean less of the crass racism which currently
infects our press. 

In the Durban press it is fair to say that the black experience is only
relevant in so far as it affects, or is perceived to affect, white and
Indian people. They have never yet published a paper in which this not
immediately and obviously apparent. This takes different forms and perhaps
the most disturbing is the total lack of concern for black life. If a
German tourist has a camcorder stolen on Marine Parade at 10:00pm it makes
the front page. If white men are shooting black dockworkers in drive-bys
it makes a couple of paragraphs on page 3. We see the total disinterest in
black people in less nauseating ways too. If any fool in Chatsworth or
Pinetown picks up a guitar you're gonna read about it. Sipho Gumede's bass
grooves are celebrated in Montreaux, Moscow and Wembley but he might as
well live on Mars as far as Durban's papers are concerned. How many
stories have you read about any of Durban's black suburbs that are about
anything other than violence, crime and disorder? Think about it. Think
about how many stories you have read about hawkers and squatters when
everyone except the people concerned is asked how they feel. 

How can we stop violence when black life is so cheap to our media? How can
we even know what's really happening in our city when black life is less
important than another suburban beauty competition? How can we enjoy or
sell our city when we don't know anything about the majority of the
people here? How can we effectively deal with the conflicts of interest
which arise between the poor and the middle class when we don't even know
what the poor are thinking? 

The Durban press, and in particular the Daily News, operates in a paradigm
in which society is in decay and decline. Often this is a latent
assumption but it is very often stated explicitly in editorials. Is this
society in decay and decline or is white and (lesser) Indian privilege in
decay and decline? Let's take a dispassionate look at a few of the facts.
Let's start with violence. 

For the last 300 years this country has been racked by wars of conquest
and resistance. Mostly they have been internal but in the latter part of
this century they were played out in Angola, Namibia and Mozambique as
well as from Soweto to Mitchel's Plain. This country has a long history of
violence. It ranges from organised war, to youth rebellion, to police
torture and assassination to the casual violence of Baask(l)ap and the
bomb in the shopping centre. Children found themselves plucked from
Americanised suburbia and hurled into the jungles of Angola or lured
>from their desks in to the path of the Caspirs. Pulled into the tear gas
mists and police barbarity by the dream of freedom and dignity. 

That's all stopped now. Namibia is free, the mines are being cleared from
Angola and Mozambique. The children are at their desks and no one finds
themselves sitting on a "border" just outside Luanda or in prison because
they wouldn't carry a gun for apartheid. Yes, we are still living with the
consequences of our recent barbarism. The mad eyes of the hijacker come
>from that barbarism and yes they are a terrible reality. But the more
important reality is that despite all the predictions we avoided an
apocalypse. The reality is that political violence is down from 300 a
month a short while ago to 30 a month. The reality is that is crime in KZN
in 1996 was down 25% on 1995. The reality is that the miracle is
continuing to unfold. Our newspapers live in a world where we are
sliding into anarchy because they were happier with the siege mentality of
apartheid. They now feel that the enemy is within. Crime and violence are
huge problems which require maximum attention but only someone with no
understanding of the past would have the audacity to claim that the
crime and violence of today are worse than the crime and violence of
apartheid. 

Let's talk about decay and decline of standards. Education will be a
useful example since there has been so much hysterical reporting on this
topic. In the very recent past we had a grossly unjust system of
segregated and graded privilege with whites on top and blacks on the
bottom. Today we have equality and fairness. In the past we had an
education system that taught obedience and stifled thinking. Today we have
a system that is moving away from the rote learning of facts toward the
teaching of thinking skills. In the past we had a system that, aside
>from the fascism of programmes like cadets, was rootless. Today we are
developing a South African syllabus appropriate for our needs. In the past
the vast majority of our pupils found themselves in a corrupt system
where exam papers were leaked and headmasters drove Mercs but there were
no books or even toilet paper and nothing was done about it. Last year,
for the first time, action was taken against corruption. Arrests were
made. What, you may ask, about all the experienced teachers taking early
retirement packages? Well their experience is in apartheid education. Many
of them will not be able to adjust to the new system. Indeed a little girl
of the acquaintance of the author of this piece started primary school
this week. Her "experienced" teacher said that she couldn't pronounced
Zandile so she would call her by her English second name.  We should
celebrate the going of the "experienced teachers." Let the past be the
past. The story of education is not a story of decline. It is a story of
a move from barbarism toward justice. 

There are so many examples of how the decline of which our newspapers
speak is really just an end to segregated privilege. However probably the
most hilarious thing which they say is that "people" need to be attracted
back to the "overcrowded" CBD and the beachfront. Don't you wonder how
they define a person? It's so stupid that it's funny but it's also
really, profoundly, sick. 

There are numerous examples of specific incidents in which Durban
newspapers have let their prejudices cloud their vision to the extent that
their reporting has been, to put it conservatively, wildly inaccurate. 
Just three examples are mentioned here. 

The first is the University of Durban-Westville. This university has all
the problems generic to South Africa universities plus a few unique
problems. The main ones are very poor, weak and indecisive leadership, a
bureaucracy that is about 3 times too big and is in general grossly
inefficient and very often crassly racist. These are serious problems but
you don't read about them in your newspapers. What you read about is
"student unrest". The situation is laughable because the only thing that
the students are guilty of is doing nothing while their University falls
apart. The image of a violent, irrational student body has been so firmly
entrenched in the public imagination that graduates find that they are
unemployable and staff members find that people routinely ask them whether
working at UD-W is safe. Last year the students finally held a meeting to
discuss various pressing incidents of maladminstration such as people in
need of financial aid being turned down while people who didn't apply for
it received it. Lectures were cancelled for the duration of the meeting
and although the meeting was conducted with some radical rhetoric there
wasn't even any toyi-toyiing or singing and certainly no rioting. The next
day the Mercury reported, on their front page, that a riot had occurred.
Understandably the students were extremely angry at this and after the
article there were a couple of minor incidents. However for the whole week
Durban's newspapers wrote about UD-W as if it were a barbarous, anarchic
place. The Sunday Tribune couldn't find any evidence for these claims
(not surprising since they were lies) so they dug up an old picture from
when students were fighting the police in the 80's and ran it with a
caption reading "Scenes like this are common at UD-W". This is a level of
deceit which you should not tolerate. 

Some people argue that the newspapers tell blatant lies about UD-W because
they have some sort of agenda. The correct explanation is probably less
sinister but very depressing. It is probably that the perception of the
white and Indian journalists is so coloured by their racist outlook and
their hysterical fear of the black crowd and black power that they are
simply unable to see through their paranoia. In other words their vision
is so distorted by their assumptions and prejudices that they are just not
capable of doing their jobs. 

Crime on the beachfront and in the CBD is another classic example of how
the racism of our newspapers leads to a totally distorted picture of
reality. Sure it happens and of course it is never acceptable but the
reality of the situation is not even vaguely close to the perception
created by the media. Time and again people who go down to our beachfront
are enchanted by its exciting vibrancy. They spend a happy Sunday
wondering through the markets, relaxing on the beaches, having a sundowner
and then on Monday they open their paper to be confronted with
hysterical reports about how the beachfront "used to be an asset" but is
now a cesspool of violence, bad behaviour and crime. The real filth is in
the minds of journalists who bemoan "Durban's apathy" when only 40 000
white/Indian people turn out for a Bon Jovi concert but who are so
frightened of a black crowd that they describe any large group of black
people as a crisis or a riot. 

Perhaps the most outrageous example of this tendency was the reporting on
the New Year celebrations. The Mercury, to its eternal credit, reported
that it had been the best New Year in years .The police statistics and the
80 000 people who had a good time in the city back this view up. The Daily
News however ran a totally sensationalist article with an apocalyptic
headline screaming about murder, rape and mugging. Their article was not
based on police statistics, or interviews with people who were actually
part of the celebrations. (In fact not a single black person was
interviewed - makes you think doesn't it?) The whole article was based on
the views of one police reservist who made the stupidly ridiculous claim
that "a crime was occurring every 30 seconds." The couple of specific
incidents that they did refer to were actually drawn from the whole week
leading up to New Year but this fact was played down. As with the Sunday
Tribune's article on UD-W a photograph was used as evidence to support an
inaccurate story. This huge photograph showed what appeared to be two
black men trading blows and the caption read "Just one of many incidents
on the beachfront." Many people thought that this was a genuine picture of
a fist fight which was being sensationalised and turned into some sort of
huge disaster by the Daily News. However the Natal Witness (bless its
soul) has since revealed that this picture was of two gym partners
sparing and that the Daily News had knowingly deceived its readers. It was
so blindingly obvious that the this story was deceitful, sensationalist
and racist that the Mail and Guardian, SAFM, the police and various
tourism and business bodies complained. The Daily News responded by saying
that it was just a matter of perspective and that while some people see a
glass as half full some see it as half empty. They made no apology for
their outrageous behaviour or for their half-baked rationalisations of it. 

A final example of how, in this case the Daily News, allows its prejudices
and fears to cloud its judgements is the rash of stories on Indians being
discriminated against for "not being black enough." Clearly it is entirely
possible that Indians could be discriminated against but given the fact
that this group constitutes less than 2% of the population but is
represented at a far higher level everywhere from cabinet, to the UCB, to
the SABC, to higher education etc this claim needs evidence. The Daily
News has recently run two high profile stories on this theme. The first
concerned a Navy Commander who, horror of horrors, had voluntarily joined
the SADF in the bad old apartheid days and was now leaving to be the token
non-white in a weapons company. Here we have a man who volunteered to
serve the old racist order but who is uncomfortable with serving the
democratic order. We will need very good evidence for us to be able to
take his claims of racism seriously. However all we are given is his word!
That's it. He, servant of the old order, cries racism and suddenly it's a
crisis. 

The second Daily News story on this theme concerned an Indian Doctor at
King Edward who claimed that he is being forced to take early retirement
because (yawn, yawn) he is not black enough. Given that the vast majority
of the doctors at King Edward are Indian this seems strange. Certainly
his claims require some evidence. However all we get is his word.
Interestingly the story told by some of his (Indian) colleagues is that he
is so racist and so rude to black people that he is incapable of doing his
job properly. They are amazed that it has taken so long to get rid of him
but relieved that this throw back to the ugly past is finally gone. This
kind of reporting causes resentment and fear. Indeed, the response to
these articles in the letter columns shows what a powerful affect they
have. However a little digging or thinking shows that they are just the
opinions of the people concerned and are most certainly not objective
facts. Once again racial paranoia undermines the ability of journalists to
do their jobs properly. 

Reading a Durban paper is about as good for you as broken glass in your
bunny chow. The best thing is probably to keep their racist, reactionary
filth out of your home. There is good news on SAFM and there are very good
papers like the Mail and Guardian (judged the world's best paper last year
- 12 month subscriptions only R99) and the Natal Witness available.
However if you must read Durban papers then read them critically. Think
about what they are saying and look for evidence before accepting their
claims. No one is immune to the disease of racism. It's always a question
of degree. However our newspapers have got it so bad that they have become
a major liability to our city. Be aware. 

If you want to make a difference then get hold of the editor of the Daily
News (Dennis Pather) and tell him what you think of his disgusting little
rag. You can E-mail him on pather-AT-nn.independent.co.za, phone him on 308
2107 and fax him on 308 2111. If you see racist, reactionary and
sensationalist reporting in other papers then stand up and let your voice
be counted. If you like what you read here pass it on to others. Feel free
to add to it if you have insights to share. Change it if you think it
needs changing. If you have the time and energy write your own piece and
circulate it. Talk to people. Put posters up in your mall. Whatever you do
don't do nothing. The time has come for us to stand up and say that enough
is enough. Let's rip the cancer of racism out of our social body. Let's
start to focus our energy on the real problems which Durban faces. Let's
build a society based on hope and enthusiasm for the future. Let's leave
the attitudes and fears of the past where they belong. 

ADDITION

This piece doesn't make it clear that the picture which the Daily News 
used to "prove" that New Year's Eve in Durban was "A BLOODY MESS! - 
MURDER, RAPES AND MUGGINGS" and not, as claimed by the police and those 
present, the best in years was of an official display by a local gym. ie 
these people knowlingly took a picture of an official sparring display 
and presented it to their readers as public brawl. Email Dennis Pather 
now and tell him that New Zealand are looking for journalists. We cannot 
accept this racism and dishonesty anymore. DO SOMETHING!




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