By Professor Arthur G.O. Mutambara
Multichoice (DStv) has just shut down RT (Russian Today) Channel across Africa because of the invasion of Ukraine.
It is the company’s view that Africans must not listen to anything balanced or sympathetic to Russia.
Very sad and shameful, indeed.
MultiChoice is an ‘African’ company switching off the entire continent from accessing balanced information about a war that has nothing to do with Africa.
White people who own this conglomerate are deciding what information is available to Africans across the continent.
If there was any need to demonstrate our lack of agency and control on the continent, this is it.
If we do not control what information we have access to, what else do not we control?
If one white company on the continent can shut down access across the continent, what does that say of us Africans?
White people who own an ‘African’ company, MultiChoice, have more influence than all the African governments put together.
Can we not set up an African company that we control as black people in the media space?
Given our 55 governments and our many black billionaires?
Why are we being totally undermined by one white company in our continent?
Some have argued that it is not MultiChoice’s fault. ‘Under Western against Russia, the European distributor cut the RT supply to MultiChoice,’ they have averred.
Well, who owns the European company that distributes RT to MultiChoice?
Why, as an entire continent, are we dependent on this European company?
Why can we not as Africans have our own global media distributors and our own satellites?
Who owns MultiChoice anyway?
Can anyone vouch for the African-centeredness of MultiChoice’s owners and investors?
Why is the entire continent leaving its media fortunes in the hands of this one company – MultiChoice
Then we come to the vote at the UN.
So much for African Unity!!!
Could we not caucus and come up with a common position before voting?
Whatever the position (for, against, abstain, or being out of the room!
We should have taken the same position on this European War.
If we cannot agree on this invasion as Africans, what else can we agree on?
If we are not in total agreement, why not at least 80% of us go one way?
We have work to do on the continent.
- Prof Mutambara is Director and Full Professor of the Institute for the Future of Knowledge (IFK) at the University of Johannesburg (UJ). He is a former Deputy Prime Minister of Zimbabwe. He writes in his personal capacity