When a church bans a bishop from speaking to the media, you have to wonder what’s next. Blocking the man from addressing his parishioners?

In the apartheid days, more than 1600 dissidents were banned from speaking in public to more than one person at any given time. And everyone else was prohibited from quoting individuals thus “listed”. (see www.sahistory.org.za/pages/people/lives-of-courage/pages/wall/banned/banned_a.html) This time around, it’s not a minority government doing the gagging. It’s the Methodist Church which reportedly suspended Bishop Paul Verryn for allegedly defying its instruction not to talk to the media.

However controversial the Bishop and his Central Methodist Church may be, one would have thought that a free South Africa would have been a beacon of free speech – and not least within the church.[more]

This media column is made possible by cooperation of Mail&Guardian and fesmedia Africa. Read Guy Berger's biweekly analysis at www.fesmedia.org.

This isn’t a movie for rugby nuts. All you need is soft spot for letting a classic narrative lead you through an epic and emotional journey.

Invictus is the screen version, simplified and embellished accordingly, of how Nelson Mandela cannily co-opted a symbol of apartheid. It’s a reminder about how he successfully converted Springbok rugby into a personal and national triumph.

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