The Press in a post-Apartheid South Africa: a Functional Analysis

Abstract

In a politically sensitive and problematic country such as South Africa where change and the need for change is evident on a continuum of often volatile juxtapositions, two rather obvious questions (from a journalism studies point of view), offer themselves for discourse and research: what will the nature of a future South Africa be, and what kind of Press system could one expect to find in such a South Africa? The purpose of this paper is to seek an answer against the assumption that any future South Africa will by historical, economic and political necessity be a post-apartheid South Africa. The following general question is discussed from a functional point of view: What kind of political dispensation will post-apartheid society introduce, and what kind of Press system could one expect to find? The present South African Press is analysed against the well known Siebert et al. “Theories of the Press” model. Recent restrictions on the South African Press is discussed and it is suggested that the Press falls within the boundaries of the Authoritarian system, and that it is possible that this will also be the case in a post-apartheid society.