ANC CALLS ON ALL SOUTH AFRICANS TO BOYCOTT BUYING CITY PRESS NEWSPAPER AND TO JOIN THE PROTEST MATCH TO THE GOODMAN GALLERY

The African National Congress (ANC) calls upon all South Africans, members of the ANC and the Alliance, to indefinitely boycott buying the City Press Newspaper. The boycott will stand until the removal of the insulting portrait of President Jacob Zuma from their website.  Furthermore, we call upon all South Africans to join our protest action on Tuesday, 29 May 2012, to the Goodman Gallery in Johannesburg. Further details on the protest march will be provided in due course.

The City Press newspaper, by continuing to exhibit the offensive painting has clearly shown its collusion to the indecent depiction of President Zuma which violates his right to human dignity. The City Press has therefore become a paragon of immorality, abuse and perpetrator of injustice and slander.  Their refusal to remove this portrait from their website and their controlled social media is a clear indication that this newspaper does not belong to our shared democratic dispensation and values.

This newspaper has singled itself as anti ANC, the President, our democracy and the majority of South Africans. It is our view that City Press has placed profiteering and populism before the principles enshrined in our constitution.  City Press has missed an opportunity to prove to this country that they are indeed committed to our Constitution and its values.

The protest action to the Goodman gallery is aimed at further intensifying our campaign against this gallery's refusal to remove this insulting portrait from their website. Furthermore, this protest action, seeks to show our total condemnation and disdain to any form of art that is indecent, dehumanising and demeaning to any person including President Jacob Zuma.

We are also through this protest action directed at Goodman gallery, saying with one voice and our foot that nobody including, Brett Murray and the gallery has a right to "deface" the ANC's logo and insignia.

The logo of the ANC with an inscription "FOR SALE" and "SOLD" has not only defaced a symbol that the ANC has intellectual property right to, but is a clear sign of attack on the ANC as an organisation.

We are therefore calling upon all South Africans, our Alliance partners, our members as well as our supporters to come not only to defend the rights of our President to be treated with human dignity but also to come and defend the African National Congress.

The ANC is humbled by the overwhelming support from all South Africans who come from all walks of life and political persuasions, who continue to support the noble call made by our constitution and reiterated by the ANC that the rights of President Zuma have been violated.

Let us continue to defend all the rights that are contained in our constitution as we believe that the right to freedom of artistic expression does not supersede other rights that are enshrined in our constitution. We will use all avenues available to us in this regard, those avenues includes courts, protest action and boycotts of any offending party.

Statement issued by Jackson Mthembu, ANC National Spokesperson, May 24 2012

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