Hon President, in a recent interview with the Sunday Times you stated:
The reason we thought this proposed media tribunal was important was because the manner in which the media has been exercising its freedom began to worry people and there are many things that happened which we believed were unfair.
You started the answer by quoting from the contextualisation of media freedom at the Polokwane Conference. The further justification that has been put forward to support increased oversight of the media has been that it has nothing to do with criticism of the government's policy, action or its person. It is not a question of newspapers not knowing about printing libel.
They have known about not printing libel for years. But the state cannot be defamed, the state can only be placed at a disadvantage. South Africa cannot make a claim for its good name, but South Africa has to guard against people in the country not dragging that name through the mud themselves and stirring up feelings.
Does government consider this a fair collaboration of its sentiments regarding the establishment of a proposed media tribunal? If it does, it is important for this House to know that the second quote was the words of then Prime Minister John Vorster, spoken at the opening of the National Party Congress of the Orange Free State on 18 September 1973. [Applause.] [Laughter.]