Journalists in Swaziland
cannot do their jobs properly because they fear people in authority, a leading
media academic in the kingdom said.
Dr Maxwell Mthembu from the
University of Swaziland said journalists were scared to report matters
affecting the public and to hold government accountable; especially on
decisions involving reckless spending and poor investments of the public funds,
the Sunday Observer newspaper reported (17 December
2017).
Mthembu was speaking at a
workshop hosted by World Vision.
The newspaper reported
Mthembu said, journalists’ and editors’ worst enemy was fear of those in
authority, and fear of the unknown. He said this resulted in the media failing
to execute their watchdog role, and being a voice of the voiceless in society.
He told the audience of
journalists, ‘We fear the unknown, we fear those in authority; whatever
challenges we face in society are there because you who have been entrusted
with the responsibility of being the voice of the voiceless fear writing
stories on things that affects the public.’
Media freedom is constantly
under attack and censorship is rife in Swaziland where King Mswati III rules as
sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch.
There are only two daily
newspapers in Swaziland and one – the Swazi
Observer – is in effect owned by the King. The state controls nearly all
broadcasting.
The law is used to attack
freedom of speech. Thulani Maseko, a long-time campaigner for
human rights, was
jailed for two years along with Nation Magazine editor Bheki Makhubu in July 2014 for writing
articles critical of the Swazi judiciary.
In 2015, Lawyers for Human Rights (Swaziland) and
CIVICUS,
an international human rights group, in a submission to the United Nations jointly
called for media freedom in the kingdom to be respected and
for more independent newspapers and media houses to be allowed to operate.
The report listed a
number of media freedom violations in Swaziland. It said the
Swazi Government, which is not elected but appointed by the King, ‘strictly controls freedom of expression and the media’.
They added, ‘Reporting on royal and political matters is severely
restricted. Further, regular threats emanating from senior government officials
and the royal family to journalists also lead to government censorship and
self-censorship by the media further curtailing democratic freedoms’.
The report detailed a number of media freedom
violations.
It stated, ‘On 28 April 2014, Chief Justice Michael Ramodibedi threatened the
Managing Editor of the Swazi Observer,
Mbongeni Mbingo over reports on court proceedings in the case involving the editor of Nation magazine Bheki Makhubu and human rights lawyer Thulani
Maseko.
‘In
the 30 March 2014 edition of the newspaper, Mbongeni expressed concerns that
Bheki and Thulani were in jail even though the prosecuting team had not
concluded its investigations. The Chief Justice ordered Mbongeni to stop
reporting on the case and warned that he would be subjected to the same fate as
the accused.’
On 17 April 2013,
Bheki Makhubu, was found guilty of contempt of court for ‘scurrilous abuse of the Chief Justice’ based on articles he wrote in November 2009 and
February 2010 in which he criticised Swazi Chief Justice Michael
Ramodibedi. On 30 May 2014, he won an appeal with the Supreme Court and
the sentence was reduced to three months fully suspended on condition that he is not
convicted of any offence of scandalising the court for a period of three years.
The joint report added, ‘On 15 January 2014, the government-controlled Swazi
Observer newspaper suspended its editor Thulani Thwala and weekend editor
Alec Lushaba after they were accused of failing to adhere to the mandate of the
newspaper by publishing negative news stories about the King.
‘The
journalists were accused of failing to heed several warnings not to publish
damaging reports about the King. Prior to the suspension, they published
reports indicating that the Swazi government had solicited a financial bailout
from South Africa. Eight months after their suspension, the Board of Directors
of the Swazi Observer Newspaper Group reinstated them.
‘The
Swazi Observer newspaper is
controlled by the Tibiyo Taka Ngwane conglomerate, which is owned by the King.
News items published are highly censored.’
Younger people reportedly are bypassing censored
media. In 2014, a
report jointly published by the Media Institute of Southern
Africa and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation
(UNESCO) found young people in
Swaziland were turning to social media sites such as Facebook because it
allowed them to enjoy ‘the fundamental rights to freedom of expression’ that
was denied to them elsewhere in the kingdom.
See also
GOVT
HAS TOTAL CONTROL OF TV NEWS
NO
LET UP ON SWAZI MEDIA CENSORSHIP
INCREASE
IN SUPPORT FOR FREE PRESS
http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2014/07/journalists-jailed-to-deter-others.html
US BACKS CONVICTED SWAZI JOURNALISTS
http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2014/07/us-backs-convicted-swazi-journalists.html
JUDGE RESTRICTS PRESS FREEDOM
http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2014/07/judge-restricts-press-freedom.html
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