Black Wednesday Remembered
REFLECTION: Retired Constitutional Court Judge Albie Sachs with fellow panellists Janet Heard (Daily Maverick), Kenneth Makatees (SABC) and Asanda Ngoasheng (CPUT)
Friday, 19 October 2018
Today marks 41 years since Black Wednesday, the day on which the apartheid government banned a number of newspapers and organisations.
CPUT’s Media Department and the SABC held a seminar and panel discussion on Wednesday (October 17) to commemorate the day and reflect on the theme: 25 years of “free media” 2019 and beyond.
Retired Constitutional Judge Albie Sachs was the keynote speaker at the seminar, which was held at the SABC’s Broadcast Centre in Sea Point.
“One of the reasons I feel so hopeful about South Africa is that not only (do) we have a Constitution, but the Constitution is working, elections are meaningful and are free and fair. We have a strong judiciary to make sure the Independent Electoral Commission functions and we have some of the greatest investigative journalists in the world and they have shown their mettle,” said Sachs.
He told the journalism students in the audience that they were the generation that had to continue the struggle to “enlarge that space of journalism integrity”.
Jude Mathurine, Head of the Journalism Programme, said media seldom takes times to engage in thoughtful reflection about where it has come from, what it was getting right and wrong and how it could do better.
“The story of the South African press is a complex story and it evolves side by side with the story of our growing nation. We don’t simply reflect that story, we are part of it. We are implicated in it.”
Written by Ilse Fredericks
Email: Frederickskennediji@cput.ac.za
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