The recently elected executive committee (PEC) of the ANC in the Western Cape (ANCWC) asked the media today to give them a chance to prove their worth.
“The ANC is a big ship and we cannot turn things around overnight, but we appeal to you to give us a chance,” provincial secretary Faiez Jacobs said.
Jacobs, who was on Sunday elected into the position of provincial secretary during the eighth ANCWC conference, asked the media to join the party on a “clean slate”.
The relationship between the media and the ANC had been discussed in depth at the conference, particularly during chairperson Marius Fransman’s political overview of the last four years.
“We would like to start on a clean slate, a new page,” said Jacobs during the briefing.
“We see common grounds with the media fraternity,” Jacobs said. “We don’t always have to be in constant competition with one another.”
Jacobs said he hoped journalists would act on behalf of their respective audiences in holding politicians accountable, and by enhancing dialogue and debate.
He added that the onus was also on the party to tell its own story in a better way.
“We must better equip to tell ours because we have a good story (to tell), although we have our challenges,” Jacobs said.
Fransman reiterated Jacobs’ request for the media and the party to start on a new slate.
He said the party did not expect the media to agree with everything they did or said, nor would the ANCWC approve of everything journalists chose to write.
“All we are calling for is constructive engagement,” said Fransman. – ANA