President unhappy with violence on television screens

President Jacob Zuma on Tuesday cautioned artists and musicians to be responsible when developing local television and radio content. "Whatever we present is part of societal education, " Zuma told a group of entertainers at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg.

"If you listen to … short stories you are exposed to conspiracies, to killing, to murders, everything you can think of and the young people... are looking at it and choosing their own characters. And we sometimes wonder why society is so violent”, he said, adding that there was so much blood, violence and sex on television.

"It is brought into our living rooms whether we like it or not. Then we wonder why our society is so violent and there is so much rape and everything, we contribute." Zuma said the matter should be taken seriously. He would engage with the sector in more detail on this when there was more time. He cautioned against local content that misrepresented South Africans. "Any misrepresentation of our culture for commercial gain is harmful and unacceptable."

The interaction with artists and musicians was a follow-up from previous discussions held before the elections. During the discussions creative workers told Zuma they were exempted from the benefits and rights, such as medical aid and pensions, conventional workers enjoyed. Zuma, in Tuesday's follow-up session, said the labour department was conducting a study within the industries to establish whether an employment relationship existed. "The outcome of the department's study will provide guidance on the way forward."

Zuma urged artists to unite so that the government could work with a "single structure". "Unity will also enable artists to engage the industry, especially recording companies, to discuss the desired transformation." Ministers in the Presidency Collins Chabane and Trevor Manuel, Communications Minister Siphiwe Nyanda, Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan, Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande, Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa and Arts and Culture Minister Lulu Xingwana accompanied Zuma to help answer questions raised.

Reagan Malumo
Programme Officer: Media Freedom Monitoring and Research
Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Regional Secretariat
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Private Bag 13386
Windhoek
Namibia
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