Speaker, as the ANC, we are shocked by the shameless action of the DA to censor the Cape Times by not renewing the provincial government's subscription to the newspaper. In an internal document leaked to the media - this one - the director-general of the province, Adv Brent Gerber, has written to all heads of department of the Western Cape Provincial Cabinet, instructing them not to renew or initiate further subscriptions to the Cape Times because of an ongoing decline in the so- called quality of reporting in the Cape Times.
The desperate and intimidatory tactics of the DA and its provincial government must be condemned by those who value our hard-won freedoms, including the freedom of the media and independence of the press.
These virulent and manipulative apartheid-style threats, which seek to dictate to the editorial content of the Cape Times by stealth, are just the latest of many attempts to silence the paper and others who disagree with the DA. Recently, the DA laid complaints against the editors of the group, which the ombudsman dismissed, making outrageous claims that they are biased for merely attending ANC celebrations.
Several years ago, the DA boycotted former Sowetan journalist Anna Weeks and removed her from its media list for merely reporting on the party in an unflattering manner. The DA-led government is using its financial muscle, derived from taxpayers' money, to punish those who do not agree with them and who agree with the SA National Editors Forum, Sanef. [Time expired.]
