NO FREEDOM OF MEDIA IN SWAZILAND

The Swaziland constitution that came into force in 2006 and ‘guarantees’ freedom of the media has had no real effect.

This is a major conclusion of my latest academic research article just published.

Before the constitution was passed there were more than 30 anti-media laws in existence in Swaziland and although the constitution should have made these obsolete, in effect, they remain in force.

These anti-media laws make the environment hostile for the media. The laws and the general cultural climate in Swaziland leads to lack of growth in the media industry, harassment and intimidation, strained relationships and mistrust between government and the media, weakened media organisations and lack of professionalism.

Certain cultural values continue to foster a climate of silence, in which those in authority are not questioned. These limit the freedom of the media to engage in important debates, for example about what may be done to tackle the kingdom’s high levels of poverty and HIV AIDS, spiralling corruption, poor economy and lack of international confidence.

Experiences to date suggest that the ruling elites in Swaziland have no interest in change. At present they control access to most of the media in Swaziland and can decide what does and what does not get talked about. This helps to a large extent to keep them in power and there is no reason to suppose that they will give up this power willingly anytime soon.

The research published in the latest edition of Global Media Journal (Africa edition) is available free of charge by following this link.

MEDIA AND GOOD GOVERNANCE

Swaziland’s media do not contribute a great deal to the good governance of Swaziland.

This is the main conclusion of my academic research published last week.

The research sets out four research questions: (i) How pluralistic is media ownership? (ii) How independent are the media from government? How representative are the media of different opinions and how accessible are they to different sections of society, including poor and vulnerable groups and political parties? (iv) What are the capabilities of Swazi journalists and where might there be areas for development?

A review of the Swazi press concludes that on any objective standard the newspapers are found wanting but there are a number of mitigating factors. The country is not a democracy and journalists are harassed if they try to write and publish material that offends the king and his government. There is little that can be done about this so long as the king continues to hold absolute powers. The Swazi Constitution signed into law in 2006 does nothing to diminish these powers.

The international community should exert pressure on the kingdom to allow the media proper editorial freedom with legislation to protect and promote the public interest. The public interest should extend beyond the interest of powerful groups to include the poor, powerless and voiceless. It might be that in a kingdom such as Swaziland, the printed press is not the best vehicle to achieve this and instead radio should be extended by dismantling the state controlled SBIS and encouraging the creation of small, community-run stations that are better able to allow for the expression of a range of opinions of public concern.

The research is published in Global Media Journal – African Edition, a new academic journal published by Stellenbosch University. It is available online here.