Lubombo has become the first
community radio station to be registered in Swaziland / eSwatini after 19 years
of trying. It still has to apply for and be granted a licence before it can
start broadcasting.
Nearly all broadcast media in
Swaziland is state controlled and they operate as a propaganda arm for King
Mswati III, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch.
Lubombo Community Radio made the
announcement of registration on
its Facebook site, saying it hoped to mobilise resources so it could apply
for the licence to operate. Lubombo which is in eastern Swaziland has in the
past been granted a one-day licence to broadcast events
surrounding the King’s birthday.
A ‘community’ radio station is usually a
non-profit service that is owned and managed by the particular community the
radio station serves. If such stations were set up in in
Swaziland and truly served the interests of their community they would challenge
the present news media that is dominated by the needs of political, social and
business elites in the kingdom.
At present in Swaziland the broadcast
news
agenda is manipulated in favour of King Mswati. Political parties are banned
from taking part in elections in Swaziland and the King appoints the Prime
Minister and the Cabinet, as well as top civil servants and judges. No
opposition to the King or his government is allowed on the airways.
A report from UNESCO called Assessment of Media Development in Swaziland,
and published in 2017, revealed the extent to which news is manipulated. It stated,
there is a ‘lack of editorial independence in the state-controlled broadcast
media’. It added, ‘Swazi TV and radio
are effectively departments of the civil service and government mouthpieces.’
It stated, ‘In the case of the SBIS [Swaziland
Broadcasting and Information Services], which operates the radio station, the
broadcast journalists are considered civil servants first and journalists
second. As they are employed as information officers, they are part of the
civil service and are thus expected to abide by the Government General Orders.
‘As government information officers they are expected
to censor disruptive or critical information likely to compromise national
security and frustrate government’s realisation of socioeconomic development
goals, which clearly contravenes the spirit of editorial independence.
‘In addition, the ICT [Information, Communications and
Technology] Ministry has invoked the Public Service Announcement (PSA)
Guidelines to control the state broadcasters. These guidelines bar all Swazi
citizens, irrespective of their status, from airing their opinions on the radio
and television stations before their opinions have been cleared by their
chiefs. Thinly veiled as public announcement guidelines, the PSA guidelines
regulate all operations and activities of the state broadcasters.’
It said no PSA is allowed on air, ‘that is negative or
does not support Government’s agenda’.
UNESCO reported, ‘According to the Swaziland
Broadcasting and Information Services Code of Conduct and Operational
Procedures of 1987, all state events and occasions which involve the presence
of the King, Indlovukazi (Queen Mother) and Prime Minister shall receive
priority coverage.
‘Article 3 of the same code stipulates that SBIS is a
national radio station fully supported by the government and therefore
broadcasters must abide by the policies and should not allow their political
affiliations to intrude into broadcast messages.’
UNESCO reported this was contrary to international
standards on public service broadcasting, ‘which caters for all people
irrespective of their social or economic status in society. It provides
programming for everyone; be it the general public or minority audiences.’
Broadcasting, UNESCO reported, should be, ‘A meeting
place where all citizens are welcome and considered equals. It is an
information and education tool; accessible to all and meant for all, whatever
their social or economic status.’
See also
MPs
block Swazi state-radio funds
No
chance of open broadcasts
Govt
has total control of TV news
The
case for community media
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