"Threatened Press" In South Africa

Press, Volume C, Issue 29505, 5 May 1961, Page 15

"Threatened Press" In South Africa

<NZ P.A -Reuter— Copyright)

IJXCDQN. May 4 In an editorial headlined “A Threatened Press." "The Times” today described S<u‘-h Africa as the most isolated nation in the world. It expressed concern about the South African Government’s attitude to the press. It interpreted certain views recently expressed by the Prime Minister (Dr. Verwoerd) as implying that the South African press can only exercise freedom in terms convenient to the South African Government. "Lip service is, of course, always paid to the principle of the freedom of the press "The Press Commission, which has been in existence for a decade and has yet to produce its report, is commonly represented as an attempt to safeguard that ideal. “Dr. Verwoerd's recent warning to editors takes superficially the form of an exhortation rather than a threat: it is only ’lf they de not get together to organise seme form of self-control’ and ‘the Government may have to take action.’ “The implication is plain: f-eedom must be exercised in terms convenient to the administration,’’ "The Times” said. “It is true that the recent censorship bill was dropped in February after remonstrations e'en from nationalist newspapers. “But in time of an emergency such as was declared after the Sharpeville mas-

sacre—and emergencies may easily recur in the present state of race tension—there are drastic powers to suppress a newspaper by the smoke of a minister's pen. “A liberty enjoyed on sufferance is a shaky resource. "What is of interest to a wider world is the latent menace in Dr. Verwoerd’s utterances, implying that the Government may interfere with the sending of news and comment out of the country flor publication abroad, or with its publication at home lest it do harm overseas. "The pretext would be that the news was inaccurate and the comments unfair: but the reply to both falsehood and injustice is not suppression but the publication of the truth,” the newspaper said.