the press, and so the errant media which had an “oppositional” ideological outlook, needed to be brought in line. Parliament, (the majority of whose members are ANC) would have ultimate oversight if a MAT were constituted. Against this background, the PFC was set up. Sanef, Print & Digital Media SA (PDMSA), representing more than 700 newspaper and magazine titles) and the Press Council, said they would conduct their own assessment of regulation. They set up the Press Freedom Commission (PFC), headed by former Chief Justice Pius Langa, in July 2011. PFC commissioners visited the United Kingdom, Denmark, Tanzania and India conducting research into different types of regulation. After January 2012 public hearings, the PFC then asserted, without convincing evidence and reason, that “independent co-regulation” was the best for model to adopt for South Africa. The ANC responded positively and the media thought the MAT idea was now dead. Hence, in October 2012, Sanef, PDMSA and the Press Council accepted the PFC’s recommendation, for independent coregulation, a system that commenced operation in January 2013. There will be more serious punishments for newspapers that ignored the Press Council’s calls to hearings, and more members of the public will be involved in governing the press. Then, at the ANC’s elective conference in December 2012, the media discovered that the MAT resolution had been reaffirmed. &HQVRUVKLSDQG)UHHGRPRI ([SUHVVLRQ A depiction of president Zuma’s penis featured in a painting by artist Brett Murray and displayed in Rosebank’s (Johannesburg) Goodman Gallery in May 2012. The painting came to be known as “The Spear of the Nation”. The satirical depiction was of Zuma as a Leninist figure, fully clothed but with his penis popping out. It was art for supporters of artistic freedom and freedom of expression. The ANC, and many of its members, saw it as an affront to Zuma’s dignity. The party whipped up a frenzy of support and thousands marched to the gallery, ordering the painting to be removed.2 The gallery’s management was chastised and intimidated, eventually removing the painting. The ANC then bullied City Press editor Ferial Haffajee to remove the depiction from its website. She refused 2 See City Press: Spear Divides ANC 27 May 2012 6R7KLVLV'HPRFUDF\"