A DA Ward Councillor’s High Office Fuels Her Assault on My Free Speech
If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.
George Orwell
I am Nadine Pillay, a writer in Hopefield, and I’m under siege. A Democratic Alliance ward councillor, elected to serve the Saldanha Bay Municipality, has launched a brazen assault on my constitutional right to free speech. She’s filed a Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act (PEPUDA) complaint against me—less than two months before South Africa’s Freedom Day on April 27. And she’s not alone: six other residents lodged near-identical complaints on the same day, a coordinated barrage that reeks of calculation.
The facts are unassailable. On January 8, 2025, I published a blog laying bare Hopefield’s decline. On January 12, my article “Retreat from Reality: Hopefield’s Downward Spiral” followed, pulling no punches. She calls them “defamatory,” demanding I scrub them from existence, apologize, and stop writing—demands echoed word-for-word by six others in a single filing blitz. I reject this outright. Section 16 of South Africa’s Constitution guarantees my freedom of expression—her status doesn’t nullify it.
I’ve been battered by their venom, but I stand firm with writers worldwide who fight to be heard—not on some lofty pedestal, but shoulder-to-shoulder in a shared struggle. The DA and Saldanha Bay Municipality can’t sidestep this. She’s their councillor; her actions are their stain. I demand they answer why she’s crushing my voice instead of lifting Hopefield from its rut. My words are here on hopefield.co.za—read them, judge them for yourself.
If you believe in freedom of speech, you believe in freedom of speech for views you don’t like. Otherwise, it’s just a power game.
Noam Chomsky
This is your fight too. Tag @Our_DA and @SaldanhaBayMun on X—make them confront this travesty. Local press—@WeslanderNews, @DieBurger—this is your lead: a councillor’s power versus a writer’s rights. Freedom Day matters, and I’m defending it against her onslaught. The DA and SBM must respond—or stand exposed.
Share this article with #RealNadineX #FreeSpeech #FreedomDay2025. Join me at hopefield.co.za.
