Twenty years after the Windhoek Declaration on press freedom
Twenty years after the Windhoek Declaration on press freedom
Twenty years after the Windhoek Declaration on press freedom
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<str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> flow of informati<strong>on</strong> and serve to<br />
promote secrecy.<br />
The resort by both governmental and<br />
n<strong>on</strong>-state actors to court interdicts<br />
to prevent publicati<strong>on</strong> – mainly of<br />
corrupti<strong>on</strong> scandals – has increased<br />
in recent <str<strong>on</strong>g>years</str<strong>on</strong>g>. The identificati<strong>on</strong><br />
of people in divorce acti<strong>on</strong>s has<br />
also been stopped because it would<br />
identify <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>ir children.<br />
“Journalists say a<br />
climate of secrecy<br />
has enveloped South<br />
Africa, and that<br />
c<strong>on</strong>diti<strong>on</strong>s are far<br />
removed from <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
heady days <str<strong>on</strong>g>after</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
Parliamentary committees sometimes<br />
hold secret hearings while <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
police have, fortunately infrequently,<br />
improperly excluded <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> media<br />
from certain court cases. President<br />
Jacob Zuma has launched more<br />
than a dozen defamati<strong>on</strong> acti<strong>on</strong>s<br />
against <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> media for damages of<br />
R75-milli<strong>on</strong> – later reduced to R15milli<strong>on</strong><br />
– which, some say, was d<strong>on</strong>e<br />
to intimidate <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> media into selfcensorship.<br />
Journalists say a climate of secrecy<br />
has enveloped South Africa, and that<br />
c<strong>on</strong>diti<strong>on</strong>s are far removed from<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> heady days <str<strong>on</strong>g>after</str<strong>on</strong>g> democracy in<br />
1994 when government officials<br />
were eager to answer questi<strong>on</strong>s<br />
and supply informati<strong>on</strong>. Now<br />
reporters have difficulty in getting<br />
informati<strong>on</strong> from most government<br />
departments, including <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> police.<br />
This approach has extended to journalists<br />
and photographers being arrested<br />
at crime scenes, <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> removal<br />
of images from cameras and sometimes<br />
even a night spent in detenti<strong>on</strong><br />
in a police cell. O<str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>r restrictive<br />
practices include a ban <strong>on</strong> prosecutors<br />
giving informati<strong>on</strong> to <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
media, threats of <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> withdrawal<br />
of official advertising from critical<br />
papers and political interference at<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> SABC which has included <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
banning of certain voices and programmes.<br />
Waiting in <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> wings is a plan by <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
ruling African Nati<strong>on</strong>al C<strong>on</strong>gress to<br />
set up a statutory Media Appeals<br />
Tribunal, and where powers to fine,<br />
or impris<strong>on</strong>, journalists and impose<br />
heavy fines <strong>on</strong> newspapers have<br />
been hinted at. This would result<br />
in <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> collapse of <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> voluntary<br />
self-regulatory Press Council and<br />
ombudsman system whose penalties<br />
extend to publicati<strong>on</strong> of correcti<strong>on</strong>s<br />
and apologies.<br />
democracy in 1994...” “Today’s view of<br />
174 | Media in Africa - 2011<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> c<strong>on</strong>tinent is<br />
characterised by<br />
Freedom House as<br />
rating <strong>on</strong>ly five of its<br />
53 countries as ‘free’<br />
with a high degree of<br />
transparency, while<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> rest are ‘partly<br />
free’ or ‘not free’.”<br />
O<str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>r countries in Africa have augmented<br />
and frequently bru-talised<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>se kinds of silencing practices<br />
with jail sentences for publishing<br />
“false news”, invoking “insult laws”,<br />
detenti<strong>on</strong>s and arrests, assaults and<br />
assassinati<strong>on</strong>s of journalists, banning<br />
of newspapers and radio stati<strong>on</strong>s,<br />
censorship at state-owned<br />
media, brutal attacks <strong>on</strong> media offices<br />
by <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> authorities resulting<br />
in <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> smashing of equipment and<br />
campaigns of vilificati<strong>on</strong> against<br />
journalists and publicati<strong>on</strong>s.<br />
The outcome in many instances is<br />
publishers and journalists being intimidated,<br />
with <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> public being left<br />
in darkness.