On the first of July 2022, the South African news site Times Live reported that New Frame, a not-for-profit, social justice media publication in Johannesburg, would cease operations with retrenchments looming for its 31-person staff. Since its inception in 2018, New Frame has been a source of cutting-edge journalism and informed reporting commentary on the dire state of South Africa and the world from a broadly left perspective. New Frames’ reporting and analysis have energised the South African media landscape, one otherwise dominated by elite outlets committed to the post-apartheid consensus that excludes the vast majority of South Africans. On its own, the potential absence of this publication is enough to cause deep dismay. But it’s the reasons for its abrupt shutting down – which appear to be due to the political whims of its multi-millionaire funder, Roy Singham – that are a great travesty for the publication, its hard-working and blameless staff, as well as all those who support it and the collective project for a just and equitable world.
We will not comment on the exact nature of Mr Singham’s broader political and ideological ambitions. It is sufficient, for now, to condemn his actions as a basic betrayal of his professed left-wing commitments. New Frame’s staff are on the cusp of being summarily dismissed, without due process and in an undemocratic fashion. How can this be for an organization that has brought the world expansive reporting on the exploitation of workers in South Africa? That has defended their rights and empowerment? We must ask, were workers consulted before these decisions were taken? In its first-ever editorial on the 16th of August 2017, New Frame’s editor-in-chief began by invoking the legacy of 1973 South Africa, when tens of thousands of black workers in the port city of Durban went on strike in support of wage demands. The publication itself was launched on the 6th anniversary of the Marikana massacre, when miners protesting wage demands and working conditions were murdered by police. Despite New Frame’s stated commitment “To reach towards…new frames, new ways of seeing and making meaning,” the abrupt retrenchment of 31 staff is par for old politics. We can only interpret this conduct as Mr Singham confirming his true colours as a boss – the road to exorbitant wealth is paved with bosses screwing workers, and New Frame’s staff are next in line, while its editor-in-chief seems happy to go along with this.
New Frame was the 31 people that kept it alive. These are thirty-one people who will now be deprived of the means to support themselves and their families. These are thirty-one people who invested countless hours bringing stories and perspectives giving voice to those at the margins of society. It is shocking in itself that the decision to pull the plug on funding was taken, but more so, that it was taken without considering ways to keep the publication alive, and according to some reports, obstructing attempts to secure alternate sources of funding. Not only for the sake of the people who will suffer its consequences but for the sake of what was and will forever be a worthwhile project.
Now, more than ever, left-wing media such as New Frame is necessary to critique the existing order of reality, and to advance alternatives rooted in social justice. We call on New Frame’s editor-in-chief, Richard Pithouse, to clarify to the public, and to his own staff, about what actually transpired at the New Frame. Mr Pithouse has a responsibility, in line with his public writing about the perils of authoritarianism and unaccountable donors, to express solidarity with his staff who will bear the brunt. In an editorial announcing that New Frame cannot “continue as before”, Mr Pithouse writes, “Donor funding can be invaluable, but it cannot be a sustainable solution. It can incubate a moment, or perhaps build a bridge, but it cannot build institutions that will see out generations.” This is a truism, one clearly intended to deflect accountability for the callous and unceremonious manner in which the New Frame’s funding was withdrawn, instead hinting at a possible future for the publication.
Mr Pithouse writes further, “All publications are grounded in some sense of how the world is and how it should be. We aimed to root our work in the values of the best of the traditions of the Left and to give due weight and dignity to the lives and struggles of ordinary people.” How about giving due weight and dignity to the lives and work of your own staff? New Frame’s abrupt closure is yet another example of a troubling pathology on the Left: that there is a great chasm between the world we want, characterized by solidarity, equality, love and all those beautiful sentiments, and the way we conduct ourselves, which often reflects the same lack of compassion and ruthlessness that we abhor about our “non-viable society.” Of course, we are all products of our circumstances, ones not of our choosing. But if the essential goal of any left-wing media project is to persuade ordinary people that the world we want, the world we are organizing politically for, is viable and achievable – how will we convince others if we are apparently not convinced ourselves?
When the dust settles, it will prove a crucial time of soul-searching for South Africa’s left-wing and progressive media. All of us are aware and frustrated by the structural factors which inhibit our ability to independently counter the dominant and elite public sphere with our own, sustainable, and grassroots alternatives. But our ability to build the media we want is dependent on our ability to build the politics we want, to build the movement we want – and no movement is worth its salt unless it is rooted in a culture of solidarity. Ours is unconditionally with Anastasya Eliseeva, Aneesa Adams, Anna Majavu, Aragorn Eloff, Attiyah Khan, Bonolo Mokua, Charles Leonard, Danielle Bowler, Dennis Webster, Ihsaan Haffajee, Jan Bornman, Kola Mavume, Lukhona Mdluli, Madelene Cronje, Magnificent Mndebele, Maru Attwood, Monica Laganparsad, Muwasenkosi Cabe, Naledi Sikhakhane, Nation Nyoka, Njabulo Ngidi, Nomfundo Xolo, Noxolo Chalale, Nyashe Kumire, Tebadi Mmotla, Teboho Mahlobogoane, and Zandile Bangani; as well as Faith Masina, Robyn Bloch, Helena Nell and Kelly Fletcher.
