Mkhwanazi hits a nerve

For a publication to christen Mkhwanazi as 'Moegoe of The Week' for a suggestion that would curtail lazy journalism screams 'we have something to hide'.

- Sydney Majoko

Former Ugandan dictator Idi Amin is attributed with saying: “There is freedom of speech, but I cannot guarantee freedom after speech.”

This quote is mostly used in humorous tones in discussions about life under a dictatorship.

Although said by a dictator as a threat to those opposed to his rule, the central message in the quote is applied by people in open and democratic societies across the world to silence their critics.

This week, Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi called for an investigation into journalists by police counterintelligence to find out how they get access to information police intelligence has categorised as classified.

Mkhwanazi had not even left his engagement in parliament at the ad hoc committee looking into his allegations of corruption and political interference on the police and judiciary before he was called all sorts of names on social media and in the press.

Yip, he had “freedom of speech” but his freedom afterwards was not guaranteed.