Members of the international and local press corps waited to record President Yar'Adua's first state visit to South Africa. In the background is a statue of Louis Botha, Afrikaner fighter against British colonialism, on horseback. (Photo Courtesy AllAfrica)

Johannesburg — BUSINESS leaders yesterday entered the press freedom debate, unequivocally rejecting the idea of a media appeals tribunal.

In what signifies the assumption of a more assertive tone on important but contentious issues, Business Leadership SA (BLSA) - an association of 80 heads of SA's largest companies - yesterday added its voice to the raging debate and said the tribunal would be a mistake.

"The idea of a statutory body, created by law, and appointed by the political executive, raises the prospect of a media answerable to political bosses," the body said in a statement after its council meeting yesterday. It said tension between media and politics was necessary.

The African National Congress (ANC) has suggested Parliament investigate the possibility of a statutory tribunal to regulate the print media. This will be discussed at its national general council next month.

Yesterday's meeting, at which the decision to oppose the tribunal was taken, was attended by various CEOs of major companies.

BLSA's members comprise the top 50 companies on the JSE, major unlisted companies and state-owned companies. These companies account for 80% of the corporate taxes paid in SA.

Speaking after the council meeting, BLSA chairman Bobby Godsell said yesterday: "We believe that the passage of ideas is the lifeblood of our democracy." He said while the media "needs to look at itself", a statutory control of it was unwise. He said the idea of a tribunal should be withdrawn and that SA had a "rich history" of self-regulation.

Mr Godsell, however, said the media was not without its faults. He criticised the reliance on single, anonymous sources for stories.

Meanwhile, new Pick n Pay chairman Gareth Ackerman, in a statement to be released today, is also forthright in his condemnation of the Protection of Information Bill and the media tribunal.

He says opposition to the two proposals is justified.

"The economic freedom on which business depends flourishes best when citizens are able to rely on an unfettered flow of information that is free from excessive government control and regulation."

Any attempt by government to restrict the free flow of information or to threaten press freedom, he says, should be opposed.

Mr Ackerman says any perceived limitation on media freedom would be viewed negatively by the international markets on which SA relied for investment and confidence.

Mr Godsell also alluded to the harm that the fears over press freedom were causing to SA's international image.

Meanwhile, Raymond Louw, deputy chairman of the South African National Editors Forum (Sanef) media freedom committee, said SA was heading for a state where journalists would get jailed for criticising the government.

"What we are heading for is that kind of state where they put editors behind bars," Mr Louw told a roundtable discussion hosted by Primedia in Johannesburg. "There is no grounds for dissension."

Sanef chairman Mondli Makhanya said the ANC seemed to contradict itself. On the one hand, its national spokesman, Jackson Mthembu, said it wanted to engage with the media on the proposed tribunal, but on the other hand, President Jacob Zuma had unequivocally supported the idea. "Every single ANC spokesman who gets a platform slams the media as if we were ... Osama bin Laden," he said.

Mr Zuma, in his weekly newsletter last week, said: "We have a responsibility to democratise every aspect of South African society, including the media ... We will use our right to express what we think. And we should not be silenced by claims of 'threats to press freedom'."

Mr Zuma's spokesman, Zizi Kodwa, said the ANC would never go against the constitution, which protected freedom of speech.

However, William Bird, the director of Media Monitoring Africa, said some legislation, such as the Protection of Information Bill, the Independent Communications Authority of SA Amendment Bill and the Public Service Broadcasting Bill were all against the constitution.

"The bills they introduce are completely and fundamentally at odds with our constitution," said Mr Bird. The Icasa Amendment Bill is said to make Icasa a tool of the government, instead of being independent, while the broadcasting bill has been criticised for putting the SABC under the control of a minister.

Media lawyer Okyerebea Ampofo-Anti said she was "concerned about the rhetoric" from the ANC, which had criticised the press ombudsman function, saying it was subjective because it was run by a journalist.

Mr Makhanya said the ombudsman, award-winning veteran journalist Joe Thloloe, was "no friend of the media" and often ruled against it. "I speak as a victim of the press ombudsman ... he has forced me to make a front-page, half-page apology."

With Sapa