Media in Swaziland operate under a perennial threat of closure if they do not toe the line, according to one of the kingdom’s most senior journalists.
The threats are real ‘and invariably come from the most powerful state apparatus’.
It has happened in the past, when the state closed down newspapers that it did not like.
Journalists in Swaziland, fearful that traditional authorities might attack them and their families, ‘have mastered the art of self-censorship, just so they can ensure their daily survival’.
Vusi Sibisi, writing in the Times Sunday (11 May 2008), said that although the new Swazi Constitution guarantees freedom of the press, in effect, the ruling elite in Swaziland is not allowing this to happen. Swazi Law and Custom and other ‘traditional’ values are considered to be more important than the constitution and this hampers journalists when they want to hold powerful people and institutions in Swaziland to account.
Sibisi wrote,
‘Disingenuous apologists of the state would point out specific media successes in bringing to the public attention sensitive stories such as the grand theft of E28 million (about 4 million US Dollars) from the taxpayer by politicians and government apparatchiks towards the purchase of an executive jet for the king is an example of how free the Swazi press is.
‘Of course, they would conveniently forget that this could be the tip of an iceberg, as it always is, to lull the public into thinking and believing that they have an effective watchdog when a lot more rot worse than the E28 million jetgate scandal goes unreported for fear of reprisals from the political elite.
‘Thus what the media in fact publishes does not and can never mirror the state of press freedom because there is so much more that goes unreported or unpublished because of overt and insidious threats that journalists have to deal with on a daily basis.
‘As such it would be simplistic to conclude about the state of press freedom on the basis of published news stories from a remote position without having an insight into and reflecting on why some news stories never see the light of day.’
On Swazi Law and Custom, Sibisi wrote,
‘And in the context of Swazi society, covert and insidious threats to press freedom are an everyday experience for a journalist because they are largely derived from Swazi Law and Custom and its concomitant baggage of traditional values and ethos, a very nebulous institution that enjoys boundless jurisdiction and [is] only accountable to the ruling elite.
‘As it were it is not a coincidence but by design that the constitution is also subordinate to Swazi Law and Custom. Swazi Law and Custom is a weapon of choice of the ruling class because it can be unleashed to make life hell for those who cross the paths of the ruling elite. By its very nature, Swazi Law and Custom is not compatible with equity justice as well as constitutionalism but is authoritarian in nature.
‘Thus journalists often find themselves having to weigh their professional responsibilities with not only their social welfare, but also those of their families.
‘Because of the insecurity over land tenure owing to the status of the country being more of a fiefdom than a nation state, citizens are forever at the mercy of traditional leaders who have the right to evict them at any time they so wish.
‘And a crusading investigative journalist is prone to be considered disrespectful and trigger the ire of traditional leaders and get evicted along with his / her entire family.
‘And this being the last line any journalist would want to cross, the alternative is to stay clear of those stories or issues that might lead to confrontation by developing extra-sensory self-censorship mechanisms.’
See also
SWAZILAND POLICE RAID MAGAZINE
LONG HISTORY OF SWAZI CENSORSHIP
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