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PRESS STATEMENT
May 8, 2012

Cape Town Press Club says its membership policy is not the real issue

Following the recent incident with Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson, the Cape Town Press Club wishes to state:

The Cape Town Press Club is the oldest and most active press club in South Africa, and our membership base includes politicians, business people, journalists, PR practitioners and members of the diplomatic corps. We are not associated or affiliated to the National Press Club or the Johannesburg Press Club.

Read moreOur Constitution states that, “Membership shall be restricted to persons over the age of 18 years. All applications will be approved according to the committee's discretion.” It describes a “Full Member” as being someone who is, “committed to pursuing and promoting the interests of the Press, media and communications industries, especially the principle of providing through the Club a non-partisan forum and platform for the exchange of opinions and ideas in the spirit of a free Press and freedom of speech, conscience and association.”

Until now, members of the media and people who may be of interest to the media and public, including politicians from all parties, have been welcome to apply for membership. Members are also welcome to bring guests to functions. Our membership includes public representatives from all parties. Politicians are also allowed to be members of international press clubs such as the National Press Club in Washington, the New York Press Club, and others in America, Europe and the Far East.

Our members come from a range of backgrounds and industries:
- Business - 133
- Diplomatic - 29 (Consuls and consular staff)
- Journalists - 125
- Politics - 18
- Public Relations - 86
- Writers - 16
- Retired - 52
- Other - 77

We are committed to a democratic South Africa where equality and free speech is respected, protected and defended. Our mission is to provide a platform and we have managed to do so.

We are not a press conference or press briefing forum.

Nor are our functions for members only. Excluding politicians from our membership would not necessarily have changed the events around this unfortunate incident, since members are allowed guests and these guests may include politicians.

The chair at meetings is always in control and will intercede if a member of the audience starts to make a political speech.

No previous politician - from Jacob Zuma to Tokyo Sexwale to Malusi Gigaba and Helen Zille - has had an issue with this. All have spoken to the press club with other politicians present. Recently, DA MP Lance Greyling was a guest and asked our speaker Minister Ebrahim Patel a question. There was no problem, and for 36 years we have had no such incident nor demand from any speaker to exclude a member of the audience.

In September 2008, an ANC member applied to become a member of the Cape Town Press Club. In his membership motivation, he said we provided a, "...platform for [regular media] interaction in a coordinated, professional fashion. The Press Club also serves as a forum for debate and interaction with newsmakers that will in turn provide personal insight into social and political issues... no media professional can do his or her job properly without this network, forum and instrument."

While we regret the incident on Friday, we note that this is the first time ever that a speaker – many of them far more controversial or senior - has objected and behaved in such a way.

There have been allegations that the Club’s chairperson was formerly a DA spokesperson. This is not the case – he was the spokesperson for a Minister. This was not a party-political post.

PRESS STATEMENT
May 3, 2012

World Press Freedom Day: A Chance To Look To The Future

World Press Freedom Day is a chance for everyone involved in the media to reflect on what has been achieved in the search for media freedom. A free public needs a free media.

Read moreHere in South Africa, a large chorus of voices have spoken out against government’s “Secrecy Bill” plans and we hope that our legislators have listened.

Instead of imposing draconian laws that could potentially end up with reporters being locked up just because they did their job by asking difficult questions, the media should be allowed to put in place proper self-regulation. Professional journalists already operate according to a strict code of ethics, and it is not for government to interfere or intervene.

The Cape Town Press Club also hopes that political rhetoric that demonizes the media will be removed from our public discourse. It has unfortunately created a fertile breeding ground for people who mistakenly believe they can take out their frustrations on working journalists, something we saw earlier this year at the Good Hope Centre in Cape Town.

We believe it is up to all of us – journalists, politicians and civil society – to ensure South Africa improves its press freedom ranking. According to Reporters Without Borders, we fell from position 38 (in 2010) to position 42 (in 2011) on their Press Freedom Index. The proposals put forward by the Press Freedom Commission last week is a step in the right direction.

PRESS STATEMENT
February 24, 2012

Cape Town Press Club reacts to attack on SABC cameraman at ANC event in Cape Town

There is more than a measure of irony that it was a journalist - SABC cameraman Rudi le Roux - who ended up in the firing line of the rampageous youth at Cape Town's Good Hope Centre during the ANC centenary celebrations addressed by President Jacob Zuma on Thursday. It is unfortunate, indeed, that the incident took place within the context of a government onslaught against the media – through the Protection of State Information Bill and the proposed Media Tribunal.

Read moreThis incident is a consequence of the vilification of the media from within the ruling party. It has provided the licence to unruly elements to vent their anger against the media - who unlike the president - are not protected by a field of armed bodyguards. The Cape Town Press Club extends its best wishes to Rudi - a colleague of ours for many years.

The Cape Town Press Club still firmly believes that the Secrecy Bill should be scrapped in its entirety.

Government dare not go so far as to criminalize freedom of speech.

Rhodes University has announced that the 2012 Barry Streek Scholarship has been awarded to Chelsea Farrelly McMillan. Chelsea is an AFDA graduate who hails from Cape Town. Chelsea wants to use her current studies and undergraduate education to report on South Africa's arts and culture.
News Reporting lecturer and editor, Anna Christensen who worked closely with Chelsea during her coverage of the National Science Festival described her as: "a very hard working, enthusiastic and creative individual... with the potential to go far."

New members recently accepted into the Cape Town Press Club are Shona Bagley, Ilse Kleinsmidt, Judy Gathercole and Gillian Lindner.

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