A team of 26 police
officers and 10 prosecutors in Swaziland is poised to force people to buy licences to watch the
heavily-censored state-controlled television.
TV Licence Consortium
Project Manager Modicai Donga said inspections would be of residential and
business premises. In Swaziland a person with a television set or video
recorder needs a licence by law.
There are only two
television channels in Swaziland: one is commercial; the other, Swazi TV is
state-run. Satellite television bought by subscription is also available in the
kingdom where King Mswati III rules as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute
monarch. People are required to have licences even if they never watch Swazi
TV.
Censorship at Swazi TV is
so tight that every month the Swaziland Government issues directives to the
station about what events it should cover. This was revealed in a report tabled
at the Swaziland Parliament.
Bongani ‘Sgcokosiyancinca’
Dlamini, the Chief Executive of Swazi TV said the instructions had been given
to the TV station in advance of the 2013 national elections by then Minister of
Information, Communication and Technology Winnie Magagula.
His revelation was contained in a report
tabled by Hhukwini MP Saladin Magagula, chairperson of the House of Assembly
select committee in 2015. It was investigating a media ban imposed on MPs on
state-owned media.
According to a report in
the Swazi Observer at the time, Dlamini
said, ‘It was communicated to the station that any activity outside of
government’s calendar cannot be featured as news and that government’s calendar
is sent monthly by the press officer in Cabinet and it is normally updated in
between.’
Dlamini also said there was
a ban on MPs appearing on the news. He said the ban had meant to stop MPs
appearing on TV during the run-up to the September 2013 national election. In
Swaziland, political parties are banned from taking part in elections and all
candidates stand as individuals. The ban was not lifted after the election.
Swazi TV is one of only two
television stations in Swaziland. The other station, Channel S is
privately-owned, but has a stated editorial policy to always
support King Mswati.
Government also controls
all radio in the kingdom (except one Christian station that does not broadcast
news) through the Swaziland Broadcasting and Information Service (SBIS).
Censorship of radio and
television in Swaziland is not new. In
August 2014 Minister of Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) Dumisani Ndlangamandla said the
Swaziland Government would not let up on its control of state radio, He said state media existed
primarily to serve the interests of the state.
In August 2012, the
government announced that in advance of the national election in September 2013
radio would be banned from broadcasting news and information that did
not support the government’s own agenda.
New guidelines also barred ‘public service announcements’
unless they were ‘in line with government policy’ or had been authorised ‘by
the chiefs through the regional administrators’ or deputy prime minister’s
office’.
The guidelines said the
radio stations could not be ‘used for purposes of campaigning by individuals or
groups, or to advance an agenda for political, financial popularity gains for
individuals or groups’.
There is a long history of
censorship on state broadcasting in Swaziland. Strikes and anti-government
demonstrations are usually ignored by broadcasters. Sometimes live radio
programmes are censored on air. In July 2011, the plug was pulled on a phone-in
programme when listeners started criticising the government for its handling of
the economy. Percy Simelane who was then the boss of SBIS and went on to become
the government’s official spokesperson, personally stormed the radio
studio and cut the
programme.
In March 2011, SBIS stopped broadcasting the BBC World Service Focus on Africa programme
after it carried reports critical of King Mswati.
In 2010, Swazi police told
SBIS it must stop allowing people to broadcast information about future
meetings unless the police had given permission. Jerome Dlamini, Deputy
Director of the SBIS said this
was to stop the radio station airing an announcement for a meeting that was
prohibited.
He said, ‘It’s the
station’s policy not to make announcements without police permission.’
See also
TV CENSORS PUBLIC
SERVANTS MARCH
NO LET UP ON SWAZI MEDIA CENSORSHIP
BILL LETS KING CONTROL BROADCASTING
http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2013/03/bill-lets-king-control-broadcasting.html
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