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BOTSWANA
State of the media in Southern Africa 2002
dia before the High Level Consultative
Council to establish an effective
self-regulatory instrument.
The Deed of Trust for the Press
Council of Botswana provides for the
establishment and support of an independent
Complaints Committee to
receive petitions from the public
about the performance of members of
the press and to “adjudicate on such
matters and apply appropriate remedies,
including sanctions, where necessary,
in order to promote an atmosphere
of mutual trust and respect between
the press and the public.”
The Deed further provides for an
Appeals Committee that will be empowered
to hear appeals from the
Complaints Committee.
ALERT
DATE: 2002-12-09
PERSON(S): Moreri Moroka,
Moreri Sejakgomo
VIOLATION(S): Beaten
On December 5, 2002, University of
Botswana (UB) students, armed with
bricks and stones, attacked two journalists
from the bi-weekly newspaper
“Mokgosi”.
At around 05h00 on December 5,
Moreri Moroka, a “Mokgosi” freelance
reporter and well-known poet,
who is also a third-year student at the
UB, and photographer Moreri
Sejakgomo were covering student
demonstrations on campus, when a
crowd of about 100 students surrounded,
verbally abused and manhandled
them. The Student Representative
Committee (SRC) and UB
security personnel later identified and
freed Moroka. He was then forced to
dodge flying bricks from the mob as
he was walking out of the campus
gates. Sejakgomo had managed to flee
the campus earlier, but not before being
manhandled by the students.
“Mokgosi” management said it
viewed the incident with contempt,
finding it both disturbing and unfortunate.
“The fact that [the journalists]
were made the target of misdirected
anger of rampaging students serves as
a warning and a threat against those
who put their lives on the line to inform
the nation of problems facing the
country,” said “Mokgosi” editor
Pamela Dube. “The fact that the students
felt strongly about the university
administration’s disregard to their
demands does not give them a licence
to target innocent messengers.”
Moroka says he fears for his life
since his attackers are fellow students,
with some of whom he shares lecture
rooms.
So This Is Democracy? 43