(FXI/IFEX) – The FXI has strongly condemned the physical attack against a journalist working for the country’s public broadcaster, the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), in the rural town of Barbeton, in Mpumulanga province. According to a news report featured in the country’s largest circulating daily, “The Sowetan”, of 17 February 2004, journalist Mpumi Phaswa, […]
(FXI/IFEX) – The FXI has strongly condemned the physical attack against a journalist working for the country’s public broadcaster, the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), in the rural town of Barbeton, in Mpumulanga province.
According to a news report featured in the country’s largest circulating daily, “The Sowetan”, of 17 February 2004, journalist Mpumi Phaswa, who is a photographer for the SABC, was allegedly assaulted by relatives of the mastermind behind a criminal syndicate suspected of selling paroles to inmates in Barberton. The alleged syndicate members had made a court appearance in connection with this case on the previous day. In addition, the report stated that the assault took place in full view of members of the public outside the Magistrate’s Court when the photographer attempted to take a picture of Joseph Zitha, an officer in the local Correctional Services Department and the suspected mastermind behind the criminal syndicate.
The FXI said it viewed this assault in an extremely grave light since it is not just an attack against the journalist as an individual but also an attack on freedom of expression, one of the pillars upon which South Africa’s constitutional democracy is anchored. It characterised the attack as “criminal” and “an affront on our collective resolve to build a society based on fundamental constitutional values such as free expression, as well as a blight on our progress as we prepare to celebrate South Africa’s first decade of democracy.”
The FXI reiterated its recent caution that unwarranted incursions were occurring in the realm of freedom of expression in South Africa because the media has “continued to come under increasing strain from both state and non-state sources, a situation that raises serious concerns regarding the conditions under which [the] media is able to operate and fulfil its constitutional mandate of informing the public.”
While noting the sentiments of Barberton Police Station Commissioner Superintendent Vusi Mdakane that the matter would be promptly dealt with, the FXI nevertheless urged the commissioner and his officers to take immediate steps to arrest and prosecute those responsible.
In addition, the FXI impressed upon the South African Police Services and the Department of Safety and Security the need to take all necessary steps to guarantee the safety of journalists in the country and to ensure that they are not hindered in any way from carrying out their work. Furthermore, the FXI called upon the law enforcement authorities to take action to halt such incidents.
