Download - Media Institute of Southern Africa

State of the media in Southern Africa 2002
had allowed the Guardian to resume publishing after a four-month ban.
The newspaper has since closed its offices. The delaying tactics employed by
the government – and supported by a demobilised judiciary - have indeed succeeded
in crippling an alternative voice in that country.
It would appear that Southern African governments are refining strategies to
stifle free speech and freedom of expression in the region.
On October 3, 2002, the Swaziland Royal Police, acting on a court order, invaded
Channel S, the only privately-owned television station in the country,
and confiscated a video tape containing a sermon that has been described by the
Swazi government as “threatening the foundations of the kingdom.”
On the other side of the region, Angolan journalists practice their profession in
near impossible circumstances.
Manuel Vieira, a correspondent of the Catholic-owned radio station, Radio
Ecclesia, in Lubango (southern Huila province) was summoned by the Office
of Criminal Investigations (DNIC) in May last year for questioning about a
report related to the high death toll in Unita “demobilisation camps”.
The peace agreement between the ruling Popular Movement for the Liberation
of Angola (MPLA) of President Jose Eduardo dos Santos and União Nacional
para a Independência Total de Angola (Unita) was signed on April 4 – some 45
days after the death of Unita leader Jonas Savimbi on February 22, 2002. The
peace agreement, which ended nearly 27 years of civil war, called for the demobilisation
of approximately 50 000 Unita fighters.
Angolan journalists operate in an environment characterised by government
interference. The work of journalists, especially those following an independent
line, is constantly obstructed making it almost impossible for media professionals
to adequately cover many issues that provoke public opinion.
As far as journalists working for the state media are concerned, the use of drastic
measures are less common, but only because the control mechanisms are
tighter. The strictness practiced in the state media is even more unacceptable in
light of the fact that the only daily newspaper in the country – owned by the
state – makes it pages available to writers who hide behind pseudonyms to
conduct an unbridled offensive against the private media.
2002
The signal sent by SADC governments that freedom of speech in the region is
in grave danger is quite evident. Every violation of that basic human right shows
that dissenting opinion will be punished. And where physical attacks do not put
the lid on the media, the law will be changed to silence dissenting voices.
14 So This Is Democracy?