Hon Chairperson, hon Minister, Deputy Minister, hon members, comrades and distinguished guests, South Africa is going through a process of profound social transformation. In such transformations, many ideas, pragmatic perceptions and attitudes entrenched in people's thinking come under the spotlight. Mindsets are challenged and paradigms are put to the test.
We have undergone profound political and economic transformation over the past 16 years, resulting in new and strong political institutions that underpin democracy and a macroeconomic framework that encourages greater freedom and competition.
Freedom of speech, access to information and a free media are entrenched in the Constitution. The media is operating in an environment which is free of oppression, persecution and the repressive legislation which sought to restrict and control it.
Media freedom, like any other freedom, can be enjoyed for its own sake. The media is facing the danger of consigning itself to social irrelevance if it ignores the national mission as contained in our Constitution. Its value will be defined more as a popular source of amusement - the opium that dulls the senses, an institution that connives in the destruction of the very values that make its existence in freedom possible.
Media and communication sectors are highly important strategic sectors in the process of economic development and reconstruction. The mass media has been identified as having a crucial role to play in extending the process of democratic participation.
In the Reconstruction and Development Programme democracy is conceptualised as being based in large part on widespread popular participation in decision-making processes. This was seen as necessitating a democratic communications and information policy, which envisaged a central role for a transformed media and communication system in the extension of democracy.
Given the history of monopolistic broadcasting and print media in South Africa, the ANC has equated democratisation with the introduction of more competition and the entry of the so-called black economic empowerment capital into the print and broadcasting media.
It is critical to appreciate the broader context to emphasise the significant role media can play in helping different people to communicate with each other in order to strengthen democracy, promote a culture of human rights and enable all to participate fully in economic growth, while speeding up transformation and development.
Information is knowledge, and knowledge is power. This can only be achieved if every citizen, wherever they are located, rural or urban, poor or rich, has access to a choice of a diverse range of media. Media being recognised as the fourth estate, in addition to the legislature, judiciary and the executive, is an important medium for both state and citizens. It informs, educates, entertains and provides a platform for the dialogue necessary for democratic discourse.
For any democracy to be sustainable, it needs free and diverse media. The freedom of the media is protected by the legislative framework, particularly in the Constitution. A democratic state has a responsibility to support and promote a free and diverse media, as this is in the interest of its citizenry and the sustainability of its rule. Diverse views of opinions and of information empower citizens to participate in a democracy. [Interjections.]