NEWS: US ambassador warns against censorship in South Africa

South Africa has to be wary of attempts to censor the media such as SABC COO Hlaudi Motsoeneng's recent suggestion that journalists be licensed, US ambassador Patrick Gaspard said on Tuesday.

"I was stunned that all of you weren't outside of the SABC headquarters the next morning," he said at the Nieman Society AGM in Johannesburg.

"Governments around the world are looking to control any story they can."

Motsoeneng recently suggested all journalists be licensed and that government revoke these licences should they behave unprofessionally.

Gaspard quoted journalist and writer Nat Nakasa, who died in exile in New York in 1965, saying people should speak up in a "loud and thunderous voice" should anyone or any government hint at censorship.

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