Sooklal's recall: A necessary step for accountability in South African diplomacy
The Department of International Relations and Cooperation’s decision to recall SA's High Commissioner to India, Professor Anil Sooklal, for " consultations" following a controversial photograph with Jacob Zuma and fugitive Ajay Gupta, has highlighted concerns around foreign policy.
In South Africa, women who participate in politics face severe verbal, online, and even physical threats. Despite the intimidation, they continue to speak out. Ferial Haffejee, an Associate Editor at Daily Maverick, one of the first women in media to experience this firsthand, explains that the digital world has merged with reality.
Zoë Barnes, co-host of the satirical political podcast Politically Aweh, adds that digital harassment can escalate into real-world violence. Caryn Dolley, an investigative reporter at Daily Maverick, has received death threats, prompting her to open a police investigation. Tara Roos, a political analyst, faced such severe threats that she had to involve the police.
Emma Sadleir, a digital law expert, notes that while police could potentially intervene by targeting the platforms, South African police lack basic resources like email access. Human rights lawyer Nicole Fritz calls for better accountability from these platforms, emphasizing that democracy requires people willing to stand in the light.
Written by urgent.news from Daily Maverick's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
