South Africans are using Social Media to gain access to news as government media channels refuse to report on the state of the nation.
Here at GoodThingsGuy we’re all about good news & even though the burning of whole towns is not good news. But the fact that South Africans have taken to social media and independent news broadcasters is!
The South African government, in an almost apartheid-like concept have decided to not air any disturbing news.
Residents of Tshwane townships are back on the streets for a second day as they continue to protest over the ANC’s decision to name Thoko Didiza as the party’s mayoral candidate. As a result numerous fires have been burning through the night. Numerous roads have also been closed.
Residents started protesting on Monday against the ANC announcement that Didiza, An ANC national executive committee member, would be its Tshwane mayoral candidate.
She was seen as a neutral choice over the two ANC factions in the capital, one supporting Ramokgopa and the other favouring his deputy, Mapiti Matsena.
Ramokgopa is also the ANC’s regional chairperson.
Protesters took to the streets.
Buses were set alight and roads were blockaded in several areas around Tshwane. The City of Tshwane withdrew its employees from the areas, fearing for their safety but Police were sent to restore order.
General Motsoeneng, as he is being called on social media. Has implemented some pretty hefty rules within the SABC over the past few weeks. What started out as 90% content on radio and TV has turned into a censorship on public protests. A ban on outside commentators. And newspaper headlines and now apparently all SABC employees are going to have to wear a uniform.
But South Africans are taking to different mediums to report on, understand and openly discuss the state of the nation.
By Tuesday morning, over ten thousand tweets had been sent discussing the protests and the lack of leadership in South Africa. The #TshwaneUnrest has been the number 1 trending topic for almost 24 hours, with #ANCunrest following directly behind… proving that censorship will not work in 2016.
So here are some of the top tweets this morning.
Painful to see the city burning and SABC silent! Don't blame the people, it's not #TshwaneUnrest, it's #ANCunrest 🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/5JlIHfmdaN
— Ulrich Janse van Vuuren (@UlrichJvV) June 21, 2016
1) Reality (1st two pics) right now
2) SABC reports "traffic disruptions" flowerly pics #Tshwane#TshwaneUnrest pic.twitter.com/cFGuUvbzhY
— Ricardo Mackenzie (@ricardomackenzi) June 21, 2016
#TshwaneUnrest Cars turning away next to where the truck is burning @News24 pic.twitter.com/y4rxgk20LJ
— Karabo Ngoepe (@karabongoepe1) June 21, 2016
View over Attridgeville now #TshwaneUnrest – many roads closed. Situation very tense. #EWNchopper pic.twitter.com/huFvw8txvk
— Aki Anastasiou (@AkiAnastasiou) June 21, 2016
https://twitter.com/DineoRanaka/status/745124383232974848
Mantashe's refusal to take responsibility demonstrates lack of leadership in ANC. It's going to make it worse, not better. #TshwaneUnrest
— Russel Brueton (@RusselBrueton) June 20, 2016
.@SABCTVNews literally does a 'let them eat cake' story while @eNCA and @ANN7tv do rolling #TshwaneUnrest coverage. pic.twitter.com/0skgytbPkH
— TVwithThinus (@TVwithThinus) June 21, 2016
Meanwhile… SABC’s news streams showed the following:
• At the time of publication, the SABC Digital News YouTube channel had posted four videos on Tuesday relating to the Tshwane protests. None of which showed any scenes of violence or buses burning.
• In one report, an SABC journalist made reference to “criminal elements” in an interview with a police official. In another video, the SABC asked its viewers what the penalty should be for burning public infrastructure before interviewing a spokesperson from bus company Putco to ascertain the situation, following the torching of buses in Mamelodi.
• Meanwhile, the Morning Live breakfast show aired on SABC2 had not tweeted anything on the Tshwane protests on Tuesday. Its most recent post by Tuesday afternoon on Twitter was a report on a Free State chocolate business tapping into the Russian market on Monday.
• SABC3’s Espresso Morning Show, which features mostly lifestyle and entertainment news, ran stories on the art of fencing. They all featured the psychological consequences of “Fomo” (fear of missing out) and sushi making.
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