Victory for press freedom

The lifting of the gag order on Independent Media in the Artsolar litigation is a victory for press freedom. The importance of free speech and expression as a valuable characteristic in a democratic society cannot be underestimated.

In their efforts to provide the public with information about controversial yet important events, journalists in South Africa face constant intimidation, sometimes brutal, deadly assaults, which constrict their ability to convey truthful information about cardinal and pivotal issues.

It was Sir Winston Churchill, who in 1949, offered these profound words: “A free press is the unsleeping guardian of every other right that free men prize, it is the most dangerous foe of tyranny. Under a dictatorship, the press is bound to languish. A vigilant press will continue to be the fourth estate, the vigilant guardian of the rights of the ordinary citizen.”

When the public’s right to know is threatened, and when the rights of free speech are in jeopardy, all other liberties that we hold dear are endangered. We must never yield to any attempt that seeks to destroy, through mob violence or censorship from the elite, the right of conscience, the freedom of opinion, and the press.

Section 16 {1}{A} of the constitution of South Africa guarantees “the right to freedom of expression, which includes, freedom of the press and other media”

The right to freedom of expression upholds the rights of all to express their views and opinions freely. It is essentially a right which should be promoted to the maximum extent, possibly given its critical role in democracy.

It is how people receive factual information, which is essential to intelligent self-governance, that is, democracy.

Freedom of expression is a concept that defines a specific liberty or a specific way of exercising liberty. Nobody should interfere with others' freedom to act as they please.

There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. There is only one basic human duty: the duty to take the consequences. The sine qua non of a democratic society is the freedom of expression. Our freedom to express our views is sacrosanct..The United Nations had declared May 3rd as World Press Freedom Day.

When a free press is imperilled, muzzled or banned altogether, every other freedom is limited too, and democracy itself is threatened. It was Thomas Jefferson who said, “Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press and cannot be limited without being lost”.

Freedom of the press should be sacrosanct unless one lives in a totalitarian state. The muzzling of our journalists is nothing less than a full assault on the basic principles of press freedom.

FAROUK ARAIE

GAUTENG