Free Speech Union South Africa (FSU SA) is to become an independent entity with effect from tomorrow. 

Sara Gon will remain director of FSU SA, while reverting to becoming a Fellow of the IRR. 

FSU SA, which is a member of International Free Speech Limited, will continue to cooperate with the IRR on events and projects of mutual interest. One such collaboration will be the 2025 Hoernlé lecture in October, to be delivered by Sir Toby Young, founder of the FSU in the UK.

Gon told the Daily Friend: “The FSU SA will continue advocating for the right to free speech as a vital element in underpinning the other constitutional rights which South Africans enjoy.

“Criticism will continue to be made where the right to free speech is abused, eroded or threatened in any way. We will continue to promote the idea that this precious right imposes obligations on us to exercise it responsibly.”

Specifically in the short- to medium-term, the FSU SA will:

  1. Investigate applying to become an amicus in litigation that starkly addresses the right to free speech and academic freedom;
  1. Create a programme to develop debating in schools in working-class areas where an interest has been expressed in debating but to which little attention has been paid. The FSU SA’s goal in this initiative is to develop the understanding that free speech involves cultivating tolerance of contrary viewpoints, and 
  1. Create a cost-free WhatsApp group for periodically updating supporters in a short format on pertinent issues. 

Anyone who would like to become a Supporter of FSU SA should email Sara Gon at info@freespeech.org.za or contact her on 083 555 7952, and provide an email address and phone number. There is no cost involved, though voluntary donations would be welcome (with bank details being provided on request). 

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