The censored media post-1994

The passing of Queen Elizabeth was on the news on the 8th of September 2022 after the royal family confirmed the sad news. The death of Queen Elizabeth received so much eye from the media across the globe, the coverage was not only on the news headlines but in all media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook, and people were extending their condolences to the royal family.

The South African media companies broke the news to the South African community right after powerful media houses such as BBC broke the news. South African media houses followed the trends around the passing of her majesty and they never missed an inch. We must not forget that South African media deeply relied on mostly British media, the powerful media houses decide on topics to be covered and what information must be shared with the public, this happens only because those who own powerful media houses are politically connected and they have political interests.

Powerful media houses are characterized by authoritarianism because they reject what is called views of plurality. It is for that reason Queen Elizabeth’s death received too much coverage because South African media is rooted in the lines of foreign media such as the United Kingdom.

This historical path of Queen Elizabeth is one of the reasons her death received so much eye from the media. Queen Elizabeth was a leader of the commonwealth group which focuses on addressing key issues affecting the countries in the commonwealth group, and South Africa is among those countries, so the media wanted to know the position of those countries.

It is known to the public that Queen Elizabeth was initially not supposed to lead the royal family but because of abdication, so the media was interested in finding out who will take charge of the entire process, obviously if there was any form of commotions within the royal family. Queen Elizabeth was known to many for colonizing African countries and of course, there were mixed reactions around her legacy, because many people in African countries believe that she was at the center of their colonization and a lot of underground wealth was donated to her.

The South African media cannot be separated from the censorship of the British colony because the policies and style of reporting are more or less the same. There were a lot of inhuman acts in the royal family which included sexual scandals and mistreatment of those around the Queen but a little had been said. This literally tells us that those who are in power have control of what the media reports and filter crucial information, so the South African media believed that some information around the Queen might leak.

Some politicians and civil groups in the United Kingdom were beginning to question the financial status of the royal family and they wanted to know how much they receive from the government and how is that money used. This is evident enough that the gatekeeping theory is at play because a certain hand is controlling access to information. The media does not have total access to information relating to the royal family. These are some of the reasons why the South African media gave too much coverage of the queen’s death.

Queen Elizabeth is also known for her contribution to surviving world war two, which led to many countries to praise or idolize her. Although she was not a darling to many in Africa but countries in the west favored her administration because they shared a common interest in African countries such as South Africa, Zimbabwe, and many others. The contradictions around her leadership have drawn so much attention from around the globe and she is regarded as the longest-serving monarch in the world, so obviously, her death would receive global coverage.

It is true that media plays a huge role in how we see things around us and how we approach the world, around the death of Queen Elizabeth there are a lot of untold stories. The media might have deliberately or was denied access to information that concerns the health of Queen Elizabeth, and we were not told how long she has been sick because she was very scarce in the public eye and already some of her duties were executed by her son.

It might also happen that the United Kingdom government is planning to infiltrate the royal family and challenge its financial operations. We have seen the current prime minister criticizing Queen Elizabeth and resisting meeting with her which she finally did, which is an indication that her administration will closely look into the finances of the royal family.

 

Operation Dudula on the spread

Masilela Oupa

@lwandlemasilel1 (Oupa Masilela the journalist)

Oupa.work@gmail.com/MasilelaO@tut.ac.za

Operation Dudula is a movement led by 36-year-old Nhlanhla 'Lux', born Nhlanhla Paballo Mohlauli. Labelled by some as “xenophobic and dangerous”, it was founded in Soweto a few months after the July 2021 riots that erupted when former president Jacob Zuma was sentenced to jail for contempt of court. The aim of the movement is to get rid of illegal immigrants and sustain local economy.

The operation was recently launched in Durban. This comes after it was all over the news because of its campaigns around places like Soweto and Alexander. Nhlanhla “Lux” was arrested few weeks ago in Johannesburg on allegations of assault and damage to property of a Soweto resident Victor Ramerafe, Who is believed to be one of the drug dealers in the area.

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema labelled Nhlanhla as a criminal who attacks innocent black Africans. EFFSC activist at Vaal University of technology Mandisi concurred with Malema on an interview and said “Look, my fundamental problem with this campaign is, its lack of the socio-economic critique of South Africa's reality. The entire colonial capitalist modernity is not critiqued by Operation Dudula, all it singles out are foreign nationals. So these are my difficulties with the whole campaign”.

Mandi further said “Look, it all begins from the critique of the policy trajectory of government, which has been a neo-liberal ideology. Neo-liberalism seeks to keep the state out of economic power and control in favor of the market. The market is controlled by those with wealth who owns the means of production. The owners of the means of production in South Africa are white. Therefore, to move towards a market-oriented control of the economy is to sustain white domination over the black majority. This is the socio-economic critique Operation Dudula fails to grapple with in its discourse. Furthermore, a colonial capitalist modernity is explained by Frantz Fanon in the Wretched of the Earth about the relation of Capital in Africa.

President Cyril Ramaphosa on an interview with journalists after the closing of the ANC provincial conference expressed that operation Dudula should be stopped. “Let us all operate within the parameters of the law, let us work within the framework of the law” said Ramaphosa.

Some citizens in concurring with views of operation Dudula think the movement has solid grounds to operate in the manner they operate. The movement preaches moral of anti-immigrants or anti-illegal immigrants in South Africa. It is a very broad concept that needs critical analysis in a political perspective. It's no secret that South Africa is one of the most unequal societies in the world. One would ask themselves about how consistent racial disparities keep on widening with about 10 percent of the population owns more than 80 percent of the wealth. Such inequalities cause frustration and strong hatred in the poverty stricken ground. We have seen black people fighting against each other, crime, and other sorts of frustration. 

An estimated 10 million people in South Africa live below the food poverty line, while the unemployment rate is at a record high of almost 40 percent amongst Black South Africans according to Statistics South Africa.

Poverty, unemployment and crime are apparently the greatest sources of contention as Operation Dudula and its members believe that illegal foreigners – and sometimes “foreigners” in general depending on who you ask – are the reason that South Africa’s public socioeconomic systems do not benefit its native Black majority.

Leadership of operation Dudula seem to have valid arguments to backup or support the organization. As a citizen of the country, I condemn any form of crime and xenophobic behavior towards immigrants. I believe that the South African government should find meaningful ways to resolve issues and restore calm and peace”, said Shungube Phesheya, a resident in Pretoria.

Despite the mounting of calls by some politician to stop operation Dudula, Nhlanhla “Lux” Dlamini on his Facebook official page lambasted the eff CIC Julius Malema and the former EFF spokesperson Dr Mbuyiseni Ndlozi,” every time you hear politicians like Mbuyiseni, Malema and their minions say something brainless, you don’t have to reply to them, because it is nonsense to show every barking dog a way! These are small boys have tiny brain”, Dlamini wrote.

On his twitter page he further argued by saying “the Zimbabwean president has made it clear that we are dealing with wanted criminals that fled Zimbabwe hence South Africa in under attack with violent crimes by illegal foreigners”.

Operation Dudula recently launched in Durban Kwa Zulu Natal (KZN) and it is expected to spread wings to provinces like Mpumalanga.