What's at stake in South Africa

Next month a group of journalists will gather in Johannesburg to talk about the role of media in South Africa at this time.  South Africa seems to be at a turning point.  Those thrilling days of miracles and courage of the new South African democracy set the world's imagination on fire.  Virtually everyone when asked to name the world's greatest living leader said  then, and would still say today, "Nelson Mandela.  But the refusal by Pretoria in March to grant a visa to the Dalai Lama signalled a different era in South Africa.  The native culture of ubuntu, with its emphasis on reconciliation and forgiveness, seems to be giving way to a culture of self interest and economic interest. We are looking for ways that the media might help to locate the original sense of promise and leadership that the world came to associate with South Africa.  If South Africa loses its commitment to a moral highground, the world loses one of its more important symbols for what's possible in the 21st century.