(MISA/IFEX) – According to MISA, on 12 March 1998, two journalists working at the state-controlled Swazi TV were reprimanded by Prime Minister Sibusiso Dlamini for leaving a road construction site he had been touring before the tour was over. The Prime Minister, who is the head of government, accused Swazi TV journalists Mbuso Matsenjwa and […]
(MISA/IFEX) – According to MISA, on 12 March 1998, two journalists working at
the state-controlled Swazi TV were reprimanded by Prime Minister Sibusiso
Dlamini for leaving a road construction site he had been touring before the
tour
was over.
The Prime Minister, who is the head of government, accused Swazi TV
journalists Mbuso Matsenjwa and Xolile Ginindza of frustrating his work by
not giving him
full coverage. He accused them of being political opponents and threatened to
replace them.
The journalists say they had, in their judgment, sufficiently covered all the
relevant parts of the Prime Minister’s tour. Prior to his arrival, the crew
had
collected background information through interviews with officials on the
road
construction site. The crew then filmed the Prime Minister’s arrival, his
address to the road consultants and part of his tour of the site. The crew
did
not find it necessary to stay on the site and follow the rest of the road
tour,
especially since it had another equally important filming assignment to do.
Their departure irked the Prime Minister, who said the crew should have
stayed with him to the very end of his tour. He sent his Private Secretary,
Meshack Shongwe, to fetch them and direct them to report to him at Lozitha,
the
Prime Minister’s palace, or the Parliament.
Although Shongwe expressed satisfaction with the journalists’ explanation,
the Prime Minister insisted they obey his summons, which they did. The
journalists met Prime Minister Dlamini at Parliament, where he immediately
demanded an explanation of their behavior. The Prime Minister charged that he
continued to be a victim of acts of sabotage by Swazi TV. He told the
journalists that he would give instructions to Swazi TV to give him
officers to
work with, not politicians. He repeatedly berated the journalists before
dismissing them with further threats of disciplinary action.
The Prime Minister’s Private Secretary has declined to discuss this matter
with MISA.
This is not the first time a senior Swaziland government official has made
direct attacks on Swazi TV. On 23 June 1996, acting Prime Minister Sishayi
Nxumalo, accompanied by heavily armed police, entered Swazi TV newsroom to
inspect news items lined up for broadcast that evening (for information on
this
case see IFEX alert of 28 June 1996).
There have been persistent reports of interference on the operations of
journalists at the station.
Send appeals to authorities:
operations
of Swazi TV
including the Windhoek Declaration on the promotion of an independent press
free
of political and government control
press freedom and are the competent authority to determine what they should
or
should not write
with an enshrined bill of rights guaranteeing fundamental freedoms, including
that of the press (Swaziland has for over two decades now operated without a
Constitution)
Appeals To
Hon. Prime Minister Sibusiso Dlamini
Office of the Prime Minister
P. O. Box 395
Mbabane
Swaziland
Tel: +268 42251 or 41329 or 49086
Fax: +268 42774Rt. Hon. Minister Muntu Mswane
The Ministry of Information
P. O. Box 338
Mbabane
Swaziland
Tel: +268 42755 (direct) or +268 42761
Fax: +268 42774
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
