School racism: Narratives, the “truth” and truth
Terence Corrigan and Sara Gon say that the Gauteng Department of Education has made it clear that it shares the “presumption” of racism, and the narratives flowing from it
Free Speech Matters Episode 4: Why classical liberals now represent UCT's alumni on Council
Welcome to the FSU SA's podcast series on free speech and everything pertinent to it good, bad or perplexing. The series will deal with local and international issues that either have a bearing on South Africa or could provide valuable lessons or insights for South Africans.
FSU SA joins global free speech campaign
Free speech is under assault in the English speaking world. The UK, New Zealand and Australia are in a fraught position and, although free speech is not as threatened or not in the same way in South Africa, we've joined with the other FSUs to form the International Association of Free Speech Unions to assist aspirant unions to fight for free speech as foundational to healthy democracies.
Free Speech Matters Episode 3: ‘Lawfare’ - the powerful prosecuting the powerless for criminal hate speech
Welcome to the FSU SA's podcast series on free speech and everything pertinent to it good, bad or perplexing. The series will deal with local and international issues that either have a bearing on South Africa or could provide valuable lessons or insights for South Africans.
Is racism in the eye of the powerful only?
The racism alleged against individuals who don't hold power gets a lot of outraged attention, but the casual yet repeated racism intended to undermine the status of minorities by political leaders and their party officials gets little outraged media response. This is of particular concern given the power of the political elites both to wage 'lawfare' against the weak and to stir up racism to undermine societal relations.
Free Speech Matters Episode 2: The Hate Speech Act - criminal convictions for saying the 'wrong' thing & more
Welcome to the FSU SA's podcast series on free speech and everything pertinent to it good, bad or perplexing. The series will deal with local and international issues that either have a bearing on South Africa or could provide valuable lessons or insights for South Africans
SABC won’t flight DA’s “burning flag” ad: Whose public broadcaster is it, anyway?
The DA advert, depicting a burning flag, has seen moral outrage over the 'desecration' of a national symbol. The SABC refuses to flight it. Not only was it not a real flag, but free speech means being able to do anything (not just say anything). FSU SA argues that it is up to the public to comment on the issue, not the public broadcaster.
The “burning flag” ad, or, much ado about nothing
The has been much 'outrage' at the DA's 'burning flag' advert. It's critical of the ANC, the EFF and MK. And so it should be. The South African flag is a symbol of South Africa. It is not a human being. It is not a religious icon. If a curated burning of it symbolises what the ANC et al have and are doing to the country, that's pretty symbolic. Free speech recognises that. Have no fear, it gets restored to its full glory.
