The military�s fear of the news media

Richard Moleofe | Friday June 3, 2016 15:08

This military establishment and particularly the generals have so much fear for the scribes. This unsettling history goes back as far as the days of Lieutenant General Mompati Merafhe. Merafhe was no friend to the news media. The animosity came to a climax in May 1986 after the South African Defence Force raided BDF’s headquarters at Sir Seretse Khama Barracks (SSKB). Their mission was to kill as many refugees they could lay their hands on in Mogoditshane. While the Puma helicopters landed on the grounds of Dihutso Primary School in preparation for the assault, the other commando team had landed their helicopters at SSKB.

This was the most humiliating of all actions in the history of BDF because the Boer commandos had cut off BDF soldiers from the operations area. The few brave soldiers that tried to leave their residences for the operational area were met by several bursts of a General Purpose Machine Gun (GPMG) which was mounted on a hovering helicopter. I am not just writing from a perspective of history, but I was an eye witness as a resident of Mogoditshane.

At this point in time I had not yet joined BDF but had a cordial interaction with many soldiers. Hours after the raid, I entered the main gate riding on my 100cc Honda motorcycle and I was subjected to a thorough searching because I was carrying what they identified as media equipment. General Merafhe appeared before a host of journalists who were eager to hear his side of the story as the Commander of the Defence Force (CDF). He was as hostile as a medieval Roman soldier to a group of intimidating Gentiles. Among the host of journalists was Mxolisi Mgxashe who worked for the The Guardian. He sweet talked Merafhe into answering the many questions that were flying from every reporter present. At this point the news media had gathered sufficient information to run their stories but they just wanted comfirmation from the top general. Once he was in the trap, Merafhe realised that he could no longer call the acts of humiliation on himself and acts of bravery as he insisted. This incident earned Mgxashe an immediate deportation order from The Office of the President. 

The Mgxashe deportation order was to become a turning point in the souring relationships between the military and the news media in this country. The relationship has been that of antagonism and fear. Even where the military extended an olive branch to the media, they did with trepidation and their actions were often enveloped in suspicion. There is no BDF Commander who has not warned his soldiers against the media. This indoctrination was directed at making the soldier see only evil in the news media.

However, the foot soldiers or those in the rank and file have refused to be brain washed. During the Khama era at BDF, private newspapers were banned in the military supermarket. This came to pass when these papers carried information about the Government Purchase Order of the 1990s. Junior soldiers in the ranks of Corporal and Lance Corporal had outclassed their officers by creating bogus companies that were duly paid through the government financial management system. Soldiers were often curious about what would follow in the papers. For that reason they left the barracks to go and hunt for the papers.

It is at this point that Khama declared his distaste for local papers. His current fears can be traced way back in the days when he was still in military fatigues. But it is interesting to note that General Khama at one point or two, had interaction with the private media. After meeting journalists in Kasane in 1997, one of the private newspapers published a story about him meeting with the Machel family as he was supposedly endowed to one of the daughters of the late president of Mozambique. The paper had written that he would get married to the Mozambican damsel before the end of that year. Upon hearing about what the paper had published, he vented his fury when addressing a group of soldiers at SSKB. General Khama missed an opportunity to make friends with the media at a time when he was commanding a very popular force with high public ratings. This has come to follow him to the highest office in the land as he has never addressed a press conference as state president.

When Lieutenant General Luis Matshwenyego Fisher took the reins of power in 1998, he sought to change the status quo in as far as dealing with the media was concerned.  During the famous Matsubutsubu force level exercise the BDF caught the eye of the news media. Journalists were invited to be part of the exercise and they had a wonderful experience. During the final phase of the exercise, journalists were invited to Mokgenene where the power of explosives was demonstrated to them. Explosive charges were detonated in their presence in order to give them the feel of the battlefield. What the poor journalists didn’t know was that the charges were increased four-fold than normal in order to scare them. General Fisher had a very interesting Public Relations Officer in Colonel Mogorosi Baatweng. Baatweng who by all measure was a liberal was happy that the new commander had befriended the media hawks. He was so good and friendly and so hardworking. He wanted to see the new commander succeed because he had filled the shoes of General Khama who was far more popular with the troops and the public. But his stay at BDF HQ was short lived as he was later transferred to become a commanding officer of an armour regiment.