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Political commentator and author John Matisonn will discuss the upcoming 2024 South African national elections at a public event in Franschhoek on Wednesday 24 April.
The event forms part of the popular SmallTalX talk series, hosted in collaboration with the Franschhoek Theatre.
Matisonn will discuss the decline of the ANC as well as the prospect of a coalition government in the form of the DA-led Multi-Party Charter (MPC). He will also consider what the next five years hold in store for the country, and there will be a question-and-answer session.
Matisonn has a long history of involvement in public life. He worked as a journalist, columnist and broadcaster before becoming a broadcast regulator during late former President Nelson Mandela’s tenure. He also occupied senior positions at the United Nations (UN), including overseeing national elections in Afghanistan.
In 1979, as a young reporter for the Rand Daily Mail, Matisonn’s political reporting on the Information Scandal, also known as Muldergate, landed him in hot water with the apartheid authorities. He was declared a security risk by the apartheid government, banned from entering Parliament, and given a jail sentence for refusing to reveal his sources.
The Information Scandal was a covert and far-reaching attempt by the apartheid government to influence domestic and international public opinion through the purchase of media houses, the funding of policy think-tanks and extensive lobbying, all secretly funded through the defence budget. It led to the resignation of John Vorster from the presidency.
Soon after Mandela left prison Matisonn trained him for his appearances on television and radio. He became a councillor at the Independent Broadcasting Authority (now ICASA) in 1994, where he played a key role in opening the airwaves up to community and other radio and TV.
He spent 19 months in Afghanistan as a senior UN official, first as chairperson of the Electoral Media Commission and then as acting project manager of the UN’s election project. He was a member of the interim board of the SABC in 2017.
Matisonn’s recent research and writing focuses on what a turnaround in South Africa would entail and how to achieve it. His most recent published book is Cyril’s Choices: An Agenda for Reform (2019). His 2015 book, God, Spies and Lies: Finding South Africa’s Future through its Past, named Tertius Myburgh, editor of The Sunday Times from 1975 and 1990, an agent of the apartheid state.
Matisonn’s talk will be held at 19:00. Tickets cost R250 and include a glass of wine and snacks. Books authored by the speaker will be available for purchase.
- Booking is essential at www.franschhoektheatre.co.za. Contact Leila Shirley on 073 421 8879 or smalltalx.info@gmail.com for further details.
