In these days of evil Presidentes - working in the clampdown!
We can't speak to no delegates - working in the clampdown!
The coffee's shit, the atmosphere's lit - working in theclampdown!
We're kept in a pen, herded around like cattle - working in theclampdown!
(With apologies to The Clash)
Since the start of the ANC conference, a bit of resentment hasbeen building among the assembled media types. We are being kept away from thedelegates in an encampment and some delegates have made it clear that we'renot wanted here.
At our very first chance to enter into the hallowed plenary hallfor Jacob Zuma's last political report as ANC president, we found supporters ofNkosazana Dlamini-Zuma singing and dancing in front of the stage. We were toldto sit in front of the stage. As dancers started to bounce their way to theseats, one turned to us.
"We are going to beat you!" he yelled with eyes wide andhis head glistening with sweat.
"You with your white monopoly!"
I thought it prudent not to point out that he forgot the"capital" at the end of this catchphrase.
Then Msholozi finally started his speech. He thanked everybody,including the media.
"Our friends, the media... Good friends, not so?Heh-heh-heh," he said.
Later in his speech he blasted the media, saying we areparticipants with a vested interest.
"They're liars! They're liars!" said a member of theVeterans' League, who sat right behind me.
The other times we entered plenary, there were suggestions fromthe floor that we should be kicked out, with the notion that it is thedelegates' conference, not the media's.
Then, on Tuesday, some of us stood up - literally. We were made tosit in lines on steps in the blazing sun and wait for newly elected ANCpresident Cyril Ramaphosa, who was strolling through the stalls of businessesexhibiting at the conference.
While the heavily guarded and grinning Ramaphosa shook hands withofficials from companies like MultiChoice, Sasstec and Sharks ProtectionServices,we were baking in the sun and decided to leave after more than 30 minutes.
After Bloomberg journalist and Sanef's chairperson for mediafreedom pointed out how unprofessional this all was, an angry senior policemanin plain clothes, believed to be an NDZ supporter (the type of guy who postsphotos of himself with an AK47 on Facebook) took Mkokeli's accreditation tagand manhandled him, in view of uniformed policemen. Hours later Mkokeli wasallowed back in.
Getting to this walkabout already cast a shadow of totalitarianismover the event. An official of the ANC's slightly Orwellian named Department ofInformation and Publicity (DIP) gave us a sermon about speaking to delegates, ofwhich the gist was: it is verboten.
Then another security guy said, forebodingly, "We don'tunderstand democracy, we just understand security."
Since that incident, further complaints emerged: femalejournalists said they were touched inappropriately, footage has been deleted, andphotographer with prosthetic legs was shoved when he couldn't move fast enoughfor a security official's liking, amongst other incidents.
In short, there is a nasty air of paranoid heavy-handedness in theway the media is treated in certain regards. In some ways the DIP looks afterus well. We are well fed, for example. But I would rather do my job unhinderedand live of Marlboro's and water if necessary.
On Monday, at his last press conference as secretary general,Gwede Mantashe was asked why the media are prevented from talking to thedelegates.
He said a "free for all" can't be allowed; it couldcollapse the conference.
I don't buy this argument.
The fact of the matter is us whiny journalists aren't here for ourown amusement, we're here because we are the public's ears and eyes, andwhatever happens at Nasrec, has an impact on every South African.
This "whatever happens at Nasrec, stays at Nasrec" attitudeisn't helping a party whose public image has been tainted - to put it lightly -by a litany of grim scandals.
If Ramaphosa is serious about reviving this political party, agood start would be to breathe some transparency into this corpse. But I don'tknow if this is the type of thing a guy who is constantly surrounded bysecurity guards cares about.
- Jan Gerber is a politics reporter for News24. Follow him on Twitter: @gerbjan.
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