A JOURNALIST friend of a friend who came here from overseas to cover the World Cup tournament last month was hugely impressed by the country and left with fond memories.

Now, a month later, he is keen to do a follow-up story, telling his international audience how we're doing a month on. "How is South Africa one month after the World Cup? Has anything changed? Is it the same as always?"

Well, how would you respond if you found yourself preoccupied with defending your freedom to express yourself, which has bizarrely come under threat so soon after the World Cup South Africa?

How, indeed, would you explain the absurdity that our rulers, instead of exploiting the goodwill flowing from our successful hosting of the Fifa World Cup 2010, have made it their priority to cripple the media, a key pillar of democracy?

Try as you might, you'll find it extremely difficult to paint a rosy picture of the country when the biggest news right now is about attempts to restrict people's constitutionally enshrined freedom to receive and impart information and ideas.

Just how do you explain the fact that a journalist is arrested in an unbecoming manner, such as happened to Mzilikazi wa Afrika? Then supporters of the ruling party descended on the court, calling him a traitor and baying for his blood...

Even artists are being pilloried for daring to express their creativity, such as when they portray Nelson Mandela, an international icon, in ways that do not meet with the approval of censorious party officials.

It would be nice for us all to throw in our lot with the feeble attempt to build on the spirit of camaraderie and display of national pride during the World Cup to encourage citizens to continue to "fly the flag".

But, the context of fear engendered in the real prospect of citizens losing the rights they hold sacred is hardly conducive to making their hearts swell with national pride, which finds its expression in flag waving.

There is a hidden message in the less-than-enthusiastic response to the calls for nationalism that promote blind loyalty to the state in the face of injustices.

It is that South Africans are not stupid. They know the dangers of valuing the flag over the Constitution.

They will not be fooled into singing Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrica and Shosholoza while the media, a key pillar of our constitutional democracy, are under attack.

Citizens know that an attack on the media's ability to speak truth to power and hold government accountable often marks the beginning of a slide into tyranny.

Sadly, all appeals to reason have fallen on deaf ears. The ANC and the SACP seem determined to forge ahead with their ill-advised plan for a state-appointed tribunal to rein in the independent media.

They're also charging forth with their Zanu-PF inspired Protection of Information Bill to stop the free-flow of information.

Thankfully, people who care about this country are increasingly speaking out against the ANC's efforts to erode our hard-earned civil liberties. They refuse to be disempowered by being denied access to information through this Bill.

Civil society refuses to be hoodwinked into supporting the ideological war against the independent media, which stand accused of being the only viable "enemy", given the absence of a strong political opposition to keep the government in check.

They're also saying it is not in the national interest to jail people who blow the whistle on officials who steal state money that should be used to feed the poor or build houses and roads.

That, unfortunately, is the dominant message in South Africa post-World Cup. Perhaps it is yet more evidence of a young democracy finding its way and negotiating hurdles on the way to greatness.

May the aftermath see us continue to occupy a lofty place in the community of civilized nations.