South Africa’s usually amenable President Jacob Zuma rails against journalists’ interest in the business liaisons of the African National Congress. ‘The media has put itself on this pedestal of being the guardian,’ he fumes. ‘We therefore have the right to say who is guarding the guardian.’ He accuses the press of conspiring to stop him becoming president – it reported in detail the charges against him in 2007 of corruption, racketeering, fraud, money laundering and tax evasion. All the charges were dropped just before his election in 2009. Zuma proposed a media tribunal to regulate critical reporting. The Congress for South African Trade Unions, whose members are now on a national strike, has warned that it could become a censorship tool. Cosatu’s position will do nothing to shore up its already faltering alliance with the ANC. The opposition Democratic Alliance has compared the plan to the draconian apartheid-era press controls; the move has been widely condemned by Western newspapers. Only a few ANC chieftains, such as Pallo Jordan and Ben Turok, have ventured to criticise the proposal, but some hope it might be quietly dropped before the party’s National General Council next month. That is improbable, as Zuma’s supporters are ready for a fight with the journalists. If the hardliners win, it will be to the detriment of the freedom to investigate political and corporate malfeasance and to South Africa’s international standing, boosted hugely by its successful hosting of the World Cup.