The well-documented and contested acquisition of Independent Newspapers by Iqbal Survé’s Sekunjalo consortium seemed to be a normal business transaction by a group of investors keen to increase their investment portfolio and bolster their balance sheet with the sole intention of creating wealth for their shareholders.
We are reminded of the recent bid by Bidvest to acquire Adcock Ingram’s business with an unsolicited R6.2 billion offer, and, if I recall, to date no one has sought to know where the funding would have come from. After all, both Bidvest chief executive Brian Joffe and Survé are established business moguls with proven entrepreneurial track records.
Therefore, we have to ask ourselves hard questions. Unfortunately, as we are all trapped in the cages of our segregated history, our prejudices cannot escape scrutiny. This case is no different.
The Black Business Council (BBC) has not commented until now, but having read an opinion piece in Business Day (June 6) by Professor Anton Harber, whom we have always held in high esteem, we could not sit back and applaud such a travesty of justice. It has the potential to trash some of the significant gains this young democracy has garnered over the years. Let us park that for the moment.
The BBC has noted with great concern attempts by certain sections of the print media to scupper the pending Sekunjalo Independent Media transaction to acquire the South African arm of Irish-based Independent News & Media under the guise of transparency and accountability.
While the protagonists in this matter claim they want transparency, their antics leave a lot to be desired.
Attempts to petition the Competition Commission by a predominantly white group of editors are, in our view, not meant to foster transparency but to frighten potential funders of the deal. We are also aware that the petition may not go through after black editors categorically stated their intention not to be a part it.
For the record, the BBC is behind the proposed transaction as we believe it would not only deepen the important process of broad-based black economic empowerment (BEE) and social justice, but would also bring about a badly needed diversity of voices in this crucial sector of our economy.
What deeply concerns the BBC is what appears to be an abuse of media platforms, which should serve the public interest, to advance a racial and sectarian agenda against a potential competitor.
This trend of abusing newspapers to fight personal battles continues in some media houses. For instance, we noted with concern last year when a certain editor used his column to try to intimidate the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) into supporting the Blackstar-led purchase of the Avusa group.
Then, the same editor was confident the transaction was the best thing to happen to Avusa Media. It did not seem to matter who was in the Blackstar consortium and where the funding was coming from.
To date, the PIC still owns close to 20 percent of Avusa’s successor, Times Media Group (TMG).
It is a great irony that it is the same editor who is leading an onslaught against the Sekunjalo transaction. It is the BBC’s belief that these guys are not genuinely seeking information but trying to intimidate a potential competitor. I will come back to the issue regarding the status of TMG and current prejudices.
It is our view that they are conflicted on this matter.
Furthermore, over the years South Africans have been sold the story that editors are “independent” and that owners have no say in the content of the publications they own.
If that argument is taken to its logical conclusion, then it should not matter who, other than Survé, is in the Sekunjalo consortium trying to purchase Independent Newspapers in South Africa.
However, based on the debates of the past couple of weeks on this issue, it does appear to matter.
This tells us that when it is convenient to do so, some editors are prepared to mislead the South African public on the real relationship between owners and the editorial content of the publications they own.
Given the above, the BBC cannot rule out the involvement of print media owners in this campaign. Extremely worrying are rumours that some publications are working hard to try to tarnish Survé’s name before shareholders of Independent News & Media vote on the transaction next weekend. If these rumours are true, it would be a sad day, with newspapers used to settle personal and sectarian scores.
The BBC hopes that this ongoing hysterical response by some sections of the print media to the Sekunjalo transaction is not motivated by racial prejudice.
We also hope that this is not meant to frighten off genuine black industrialists from having interests in the media industry, especially the print media.
Our other hope is that the response by conflicted commentators is not part of the campaign to intensify the ongoing reversal of transformation in print media, especially at TMG, where senior black executives, including editors, have been forced out over the past year.
Now, to revert to Harber’s piece. It is the most patronising and arrogant act of journalism, if not a racially prejudiced commentary of note.
The professor has taken it upon himself to be the lecturer-in-chief of media lessons on what he perceives to be “an ego purchase”.
Harber stoops so low as to even consider that Survé chose to acquire a media house “to be able to use these papers to promote yourself and your businesses and show your friends you have influence, then you are only going to frustrate yourself”. How patronising.
In fact, it is an insult to Survé, and Harber ought to be ashamed of himself. In fact, he owes Survé an apology.
Survé and his colleagues at Sekunjalo are true entrepreneurs who were not built by the media but were, of course, noticed through the media.
And we are now told, according to Harber, that unless Survé listens to him, his R2bn “ego-trip” is at peril of destruction even before the deal is sealed.
As has been the norm, was it expected that the Sekunjalo consortium would become another BEE partner to a white-led acquisition instead?
We would like to invite Harber to read his opinion piece again and tell South Africa whether he believes this is the way prospective media colleagues should be addressing each other in public without contaminating the minds of young readers, who are lucky not to have grown up during the Verwoerd or PW Botha eras. The opinion piece smells a lot like baasskap!
Media ownership is not rocket science or the preserve of a chosen class. Black people in this country have owned, controlled and grown more sophisticated businesses than media companies.
A classic example can be found in the well-documented case of what Phuthuma Nhleko’s business prowess contributed to the extraordinary growth of MTN and its positioning as a global cellphone network operator.
One thing has been more pronounced more than any other before. Harber and his ilk are still trapped in the cages of our racial past and their resistance to transformation has been placed on the radar screen.
We are aware that economic transformation and economic freedom will arise only because both black and white in this country can stand side by side to forge a single agenda to ensure as a collective we can grow the middle class and promote racial harmony and social justice.
Today we have another window of opportunity to display that oneness. Let us stand behind and welcome Survé to become a formidable competitor and usher in a new epoch.
Lastly, the BBC is of the view that the response to the Sekunjalo transaction highlights the urgent need for a sober debate on transformation of the media, including ownership and the advancement of blacks in the industry, as well as the thorny issue of “editorial independence”.
These debates should be led by a Chapter 9 institution such as the Human Rights Commission, as happened in the late 1990s in civil society. The process should not be led by the government, political parties or the media itself.
It is also time we consider the introduction of a media transformation charter.
Xolani Qubeka is the chief executive of the Black Business Council.