SIYABONGA SITHOLE
Political analyst and activist, Phillip Dexter has criticised "right wing" media for their anti-Numsa and ANC agenda in his recent open letter. Speaking to Newzroom Afrika this week, Dexter called out some of the country's leading online publications for their "right-wing and neo-liberal" agenda against Numsa and ANC leadership, adding that these outlets have become a tool for Western interests who fund them.
"If we are to look at the publishing of these newspapers outlets, they fundamentally focus on two things. One is bringing down the ANC as the government and ensuring that the ANC gets below 50% in the next elections. Secondly, by attacking socialist and left wing formations like Numsa. We have seen the brutal attacks on Numsa for example," Dexter said.
The same sentiments were shared this week by Numsa spokesperson, Phakamile Hlubi-Majola in a recent media statement about local media's continued attack of the union's leadership, especially its secretary general, Irvin Jim.
On the Numsa attacks, Dexter said the right-wing media is hell-bent on overthrowing the union's leadership, adding that their funding is responsible for their agenda against the ANC and Numsa.
"All these media organisations have a history of meddling in the politics of the organisations. If one looks at their funding, one should trace back as to where their funding comes from. It usually comes from the Soros Foundation and the US State Department and the National Endowment Fund for Democracy. This is nothing new by the way. The US has been meddling in African politics for decades, with the assassinations of Patrice Lumumba, Thomas Sankara and our very own Chris Hani, and even Nelson Mandela," he said.
Dexter added that the negative reporting by these media outlets has led to the assumption that black leaders are corrupt while white-led political and civil organisations are not corrupt.
"The lies lie in the fact that black equals corrupt government. They never report on DA corruption and service delivery failures. They focus on the ANC government alone. I am not saying the ANC does not deserve criticism, but the lie is consistent about the ANC as corrupt.
"With Numsa, the same negative reporting makes it seem as though Numsa is corrupt. They similarly, criticise Numsa secretary General, but they do not criticise other people. So they actually take sides in these disputes. It is not objective reporting," he said.