GOVERNMENT'S plans to set up a media tribunal will reverse all the goodwill South Africa generated during the World Cup.
This is the view of Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu. Speaking during a braai outside his Cape Town offices on Friday, Tutu said he was totally opposed to the proposed Media Tribunal and Protection of Personal Information Bill.
"We don't want to spoil a good thing. Now we are bringing something that is divisive and we are now getting negative reporting internationally," he said.
Tutu celebrated South Africa's unique braai heritage with fans, friends and media fellows near his office in Milnerton, Cape Town, on Friday.
"Luckily, in South Africa, we have braai freedom - we can braai whatever we want," he said.
Under the media tribunal and the new bill journalists could face long jail terms if they are found in possession of newly classified information. The public's right to access government documents will also be restricted.
"Most South Africans are united in their view about the negative effect of the Media Tribunal and the new act, and I just hope we will have the good sense not to pursue these," he said.
Tutu sidestepped questions about whether striking public servants were justified in saying that the government spent billions of rands on the World Cup and so should be able to find the money to pay their wage increases.
He said the R40billion soccer World Cup price tag was money well spent.
"Anyone who experienced the spirit that prevailed during the World Cup will agree this was something that could not be bought. What price do you put for the way we felt about ourselves? We had state of the art stadiums.
"Surely we need schools and houses but the money that was used in the World Cup would not necessarily have been used for schools.
"My argument is do you have a way of saying this is the monetary value of the spirit that prevailed in our country for one month?" he asked.
Tutu is a patron of the non-profit organisation Braai for Heritage, which believes that South Africans can come together through holding braais all over the country every Heritage Day on September 24.
Tutu opposes media tribunal
GOVERNMENT'S plans to set up a media tribunal will reverse all the goodwill South Africa generated during the World Cup.
This is the view of Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu. Speaking during a braai outside his Cape Town offices on Friday, Tutu said he was totally opposed to the proposed Media Tribunal and Protection of Personal Information Bill.
"We don't want to spoil a good thing. Now we are bringing something that is divisive and we are now getting negative reporting internationally," he said.
Tutu celebrated South Africa's unique braai heritage with fans, friends and media fellows near his office in Milnerton, Cape Town, on Friday.
"Luckily, in South Africa, we have braai freedom - we can braai whatever we want," he said.
Under the media tribunal and the new bill journalists could face long jail terms if they are found in possession of newly classified information. The public's right to access government documents will also be restricted.
"Most South Africans are united in their view about the negative effect of the Media Tribunal and the new act, and I just hope we will have the good sense not to pursue these," he said.
Tutu sidestepped questions about whether striking public servants were justified in saying that the government spent billions of rands on the World Cup and so should be able to find the money to pay their wage increases.
He said the R40billion soccer World Cup price tag was money well spent.
"Anyone who experienced the spirit that prevailed during the World Cup will agree this was something that could not be bought. What price do you put for the way we felt about ourselves? We had state of the art stadiums.
"Surely we need schools and houses but the money that was used in the World Cup would not necessarily have been used for schools.
"My argument is do you have a way of saying this is the monetary value of the spirit that prevailed in our country for one month?" he asked.
Tutu is a patron of the non-profit organisation Braai for Heritage, which believes that South Africans can come together through holding braais all over the country every Heritage Day on September 24.
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