Download - Media Institute of Southern Africa

State of the media in Southern Africa 2002
that newspaper. The Nation, although unbanned, is still reeling from the impact
of the ban.
Swaziland still has neither a Constitution nor a Bill of Rights. It is a monarchy
ruled by royal decree. The Royal Proclamation of 1973 by the late Kind Sobhuza
II annulled the 1968 Constitution. The decree effectively outlaws party politics
and annulled the Bill of Rights continued in the 1968 Constitution, including
the right to freedom of expression. A Constitutional Review Commission was
appointed in 1997 to look into the drafting of a new Constitution, but progress
is hampered by the lack of political will on the part of the authorities and civil
society is largely excluded from the process. The introduction of a Constitution
with a Bill of Rights will no doubt form a solid basis for an improved human
rights situation in Swaziland.
Namibia and Botswana
The governments of Namibia and Botswana expressed their intolerance for the
independent media in a slightly different form - through economic sanctions.
Both governments slapped newspapers in their respective countries with farreaching
advertising bans. The Namibian government went a step further by
issuing a ban on the purchase of that newspaper by government institutions.
Although Botswana’s Guardian and Midweek Sun were successful in overturning
the ban, it is still in place in Namibia and with little hope of review.
On a regional level
MISA welcomed the August 14, 2001, signing of the SADC Protocol on Culture,
Information and Sport and commended Governments in the region for
initiating the process of harmonising legislation affecting information and
media.
However, given the propensity of a large number of SADC member States to
violate freedom of expression and freedom of the media on the flimsiest of
pretexts, MISA has expressed its concerns with relations to a number of aspects
of the Protocol. In essence, MISA is of the opinion that the Protocol is not
conducive to the promotion, protection and enforcement of freedom of expression,
freedom of the media and the free flow of information in Southern Africa.
The Protocol, among others:
2002
• fails to define and elaborate on the nature, content and limits of freedom of
expression and freedom of the media;
• fails to provide for a Special Rapporteur responsible for monitoring compliance
by States;
• does not expressly provide for the participation of civil society and special-
278 So This Is Democracy?