By IPS Correspondents
JOHANNESBURG, May 7 2001 (IPS)

The South African National Editors Forum (Sanef) will try to use the South African government as a lever to get the 14-nation Southern African Development Community (SADC) to discuss — and protect — freedom of the press in member countries.

“We recently asked President Thabo Mbeki to what extent we can expect his support when we raise issues of concern in the region. He said he was as committed as we were to freedom of the press in the region, and if we had concerns we should share our information with the Department of Foreign Affairs or directly with his office. They would use government channels to raise these issues,” says Sanef chairperson, Mathatha Tsedu.

“As a South African organisation, we would like to use our government as a lever to raise freedom of the media issues in the region,” he says.

The day after World Press Freedom Day – observed on May 3 every year – the Botswana government withdrew all its advertising from two independent newspapers. This may lead to the bankrupting of the publications, The Guardian and The Midweek Sun, for which the advertising is an important source of revenue.

On World Press Freedom Day, the Botswana government accepted the resignation of the state broadcaster’s head of television current affairs and news. He resigned after the government blocked the broadcast of a documentary dealing with the way Botswana executed a convicted murderer, South African Mariette Bosch.

On the same day it was reported that the independent Guardian of Swaziland and The Nation had been banned, with immediate effect, by the government. The order was issued under an Act that allows the banning of publications representing a threat to defence, security or morality of the country.

The Media Institute of Southern Africa (Misa) released a report on the state of the press in the region, to mark World Press Freedom Day.

Neighbours – South Africa and Zimbabwe – are on opposite ends of the list of countries, in the region, that have violated press freedoms. “In terms of media violations, Zimbabwe still leads the charts with the highest number of media freedom violations reported – with 46 action alerts,” said Misa in a statement.

South Africa is only mentioned in the statement as not recording any incidents of violence against journalists or media organisations. Lesotho is accorded the lowest number of media freedom violations, with only two recorded incidents.

Despite the government and the media in South Africa having quite a hostile relationship, at present, Tsedu is not too concerned about the state of the media in the country.

“Generally speaking South Africa enjoys sufficient freedom of the media and we are essentially able to write what we like, with very little risk. But, there are still a few laws which we are in the process of lobbying government to take off the statute books,” says Tsedu. “It’s nothing compared to the dangers journalists face in other countries on the continent, but that does not mean we should not be vigilant”.

Sanef is particularly concerned about Section 205 of South Africa’s Criminal Procedure Act that can be used to force journalists to testify in court, or face a prison sentence. The provision was put on the statute books by South Africa’s former apartheid government – but is now being used by national prosecutors in criminal cases.

In Zimbabwe, the mood among media activists is much more somber. “Unless there is a change in the political leadership – and that is not likely soon-then there is little hope for freedom of the press in Zimbabwe,” says Zimbabwean media activist and chief executive officer of Sithengi, Mike Auret.

Sithengi markets film and television productions from Southern Africa, internationally.

Auret is also a part owner of Capital Radio — an independent radio station — that has been banned from broadcasting in Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe.

“We have gone to court for the second time to get the ban lifted,” says Auret, “But, even though we are confident that it will be lifted, I doubt we will ever get to broadcast. If we win the war veterans will be sent in.”

Self-styled veterans of Zimbabwe’s liberation war have been invading farms, businesses and intimidating supporters and leaders of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). They have often claimed to be acting in support of Zimbabwean President, Robert Mugabe, and his party, Zanu-PF.

“What put the media in Zimbabwe under siege was the violent parliamentary election held in June 2000. The political and economic turmoil in the country sparked so much tension that it spread to the media. This resulted in the government shifting blame from themselves to the media by accusing the media of working against the government and the good of the country and reversing the gains of independence,” explained Misa.

Zimbabwe will be holding a presidential election, in October 2002, and it’s unlikely the political crises in the country — and attacks on the media — will ease before then.

“Probably the worst violation would be the killing (in October 2000) of Carlos Cardoso, which rudely disturbed the relatively peaceful media environment in the region. Cardoso is often referred by many in Mozambique as the country’s press freedom fighter,” said the Misa statement.

Incidents where freedom of the press was violated were recorded in every country in the region, with Zambia, Angola, Swaziland, Namibia and Malawi all recording a substantial number of violations of freedom on the press. The violations include the bombing of offices and the beating of journalist by — in some cases — unknown groups.

The heads of state in Angola, Malawi, Namibia and Zimbabwe are either suing, or threatening legal action, against newspapers that reported allegations of their involvement in corruption or defamed them. The report lists over 182 separate incidents involving various types of violations of freedom of the press or important developments affecting the media in the region.

“In summary, the state of media freedom in the region is still fragile and far from normalising,” concluded Misa.

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