I have been watching the Winnie Madikizela-Mandela coverage with keen interest - first, because I’m an eternal student of history and second, because I am a media practitioner with an affinity for news and current affairs.
Her death has reminded me of a peculiar incident that has over the years replayed itself in my head. In the 1980s, the country was swimming in a bloodbath of political violence that changed the word necklace into a chilling term, that meant the burning with a tyre and petrol those the comrades deemed guilty of being sell-outs.
The new meaning gained currency in 1985 following the gruesome murder of Duduza, East Rand resident Maki Skhosana, who was suspected by anti-apartheid activists in her neighbourhood of being a police informer. Archbishop Desmond Tutu condemned the barbaric killing and threatened to leave the country.
The ANC-led anti-apartheid movement in exile also expressed displeasure at a murder that gained unprecedented television coverage around the world. In 1986, when Winnie Mandela made her “boxes of matches and necklaces” speech, the anti-apartheid movement once again distanced itself from her utterances.
The leadership of the ANC-aligned United Democratic Front - with Murphy Morobe, Valli Moosa and Vusi Khanyile at the helm - held a press conference to condemn her speech. The irony is that at the time the National Party-controlled SABC didn’t offer anti-apartheid leaders a platform, but on that day they made a notable exception. It was an expedient and opportunistic stroke of genius by the state broadcaster.
This week I have been watching SABC news with the vain hope of seeing that historic footage. But it was not to be. And that’s exactly my problem with the coverage of Madikizela-Mandela’s passing. All channels have been playing and replaying archival footage without indicating the dates and places of these historic events.
Both eNCA and SABC have gone out of their way to interview people who really knew her. But we still have to hear the Murphy Morobes and Valli Moosas of this world sharing their side of the story.
The SABC replayed what seemed to have been her last interview with the public broadcaster. Her interviewers were two senior journalists. She objected when she was asked to tell them about herself. “It’s an unfair question,” she shot back. “You are putting me in an awkward situation. Just ask specific questions and we can talk.” That was the level of television journalism one was exposed to this week.
These channels also referenced Bongani Ndodana-Breen’s touching stage show, Winnie the Opera (2011) and the acclaimed documentary Winnie (2017), by filmmakers Pascale Lamche and Peter Makurube to illustrate her place in popular culture. But this was done half-heartedly.
Even in death, she continues to be maligned by a section of South African society that never really knew her. She was not a saint, but we can’t deny the level of misinformation and propaganda by broadcasters such as the SABC. Unfortunately, the brand of television journalism in this country leaves a lot to be desired.