This editorial was unusually long in the making. You see, dear reader, in this space goes Sunday World’s take on issues with which the nation would at the given time be seized.
It is for the gravity and importance of the matter at hand that the editorial team as a whole would debate the approach we ought to take and the stance if we were to tackle any issue. It is the standard process on many a publication, and one of the senior editorial staff members would then be assigned to pen the piece articulating the standpoint.
Often, the process wouldn’t take long, and, in some instances, it is not amiss that seniors on the editorial team would simply go ahead and write on issues without conference deciding.
As alluded to earlier, the process took a while this week, and we even solicited the input of an external lawyer. At issue was a matter that had grabbed attention and got tongues wagging. Controversial podcaster MacGyver Mukwevho, often given to shooting off his mouth, apparently without second thought, had some unprintable stuff to say about TV sports presenter and actress Minnie Dlamini on an episode of the popular, no-holds-barred Podcast and Chill with MacG.
What he said about Dlamini, frankly, is not worth repeating, especially in a society grappling with gender-based violence and misogyny in a highly patriarchal setup.
The discussion in our conference centred around what Dlamini’s options would be if she sought redress. The question arose whether laying a charge of crimen injuria was a viable choice, and the question was whether crimen injuria was still a criminal offence under SA law.
It came to light that a piece of legislation, the Judicial Matters Amendment Act of 2023, was assented to by President Cyril Ramaphosa and, among others, sought to phase out crimen injuria as a crime. Our lawyer friend had been unaware of the change in law but cautioned that it would in any case remain part of common law. One of our staff members, a qualified lawyer, spoke of a personal experience where the police told him he couldn’t open a case of crimen injuria because of the reason stated here.
The issue then became, why would such a major amendment of a law that affects people hugely be done by stealth without so much as a whisper? We are hard-pressed to recall any communication, let alone effective, to carry the message through. So much for a democracy.
Second, why is it that after all these years, digital media, including podcasts such as Podcast and Chill with MacG, still go unregulated while traditional media are regulated and held accountable for missteps in the mould of what Mukwevho has done? What will it take?
Instead of having a deputy minister grappling with unworkables, such as summoning Mukwevho to parliament to explain himself, why don’t lawmakers work on regulating the space in which podcasters and similar platforms operate? That would be no threat to freedom of expression, as those in defence of Mukwevho’s reckless utterances claim. It would be like connecting a right to a responsibility, as indeed all freedoms aren’t without responsibility or limitation.
