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Tuesday 18 March 2008

CENSORSHIP SWAZILAND STYLE

Swazi newspapers are getting praise for the open way they have been reporting the textile strike in Swaziland. Even though there are claims they are under pressure from police not to report the dispute.

But government-controlled SBIS radio has been accused of censoring news about the dispute, which has seen many cases of brutality by armed police against mostly women workers.

I have written before about the way that the newspapers have given vivid detail of the attacks. Even the Swazi Observer, which is in effect owned by the Swazi Royal Family and is a firm supporter of the status quo in the non-democratic kingdom of Swaziland, has given extensive coverage to the violence.

Now the Confederation of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) has added its praise. In a media statement released yesterday (17 March 2008) COSATU says,

‘The fact that the pro-government media is reporting all this is a positive development as they have been under pressure from the police to report nothing about the strike.

‘The Swaziland Manufacturing and Allied Workers Union President Alex Fakudze has told COSATU that the state-controlled broadcaster, the Swazi Broadcasting and Information Services, phoned him to say that they could not broadcast a statement he had given them because police had instructed them not to report anything about the strike.

‘The fact that some of the print media have defied similar threats is significant,’ COSATU says.


Getting information about what is going on in Swaziland can be very difficult. The broadcast media in the kingdom is mostly state controlled and therefore is under pressure to censor news that puts the government and its supporters in a bad light. The only ‘independent’ TV station Channel Swazi (Channel S) is owned by a loyal supporter of King Mwsati III and tends to follow an ultra conservative line in its news broadcasts.

Apart from one Christian radio station Voice of the Church that is not really interested in local news, all radio in Swaziland is state controlled.

That only leaves the two newspaper groups, one of which is effectively owned by the Swazi Royal Family, and one that is commercially (but not really politically) independent of government.

There is very little interest from the foreign media about what goes on in Swaziland so the only way we can find out what is going on is through the censored media.

This can cause problems because in any society where there is not a free flow of information, rumours spread like wildfire.

There was a good example of this in action yesterday (17 March 2008) on the Internet. A report has been circulating across the world (I picked up my copy from an email in Canada) saying that one person has died of injuries sustained in a police attack on textile workers and another is not expected to live. The report also talks of police gunfire being heard and ‘unconfirmed reports are of another two deaths including a child from teargas’.

As I write this, it is impossible to say whether this report is true or not. But one thing is sure - if we had a free and independent media in Swaziland we wouldn’t need to go to Canada to find out.

See also
SWAZI POLICE SHOOT IN THE BACK
SWAZI POLICE ATTACK PREGNANT WOMAN
SWAZI POLICE RAMPAGE AGAIN

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