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IntroductionBob van der Winden
Freedom of expression is not easily achieved, especially not if a country has a history of violence, repression, dictatorship or war. To what extent are press freedom and freedom of speech and expression embedded in the newly found democracies in Southern Africa? This question has prompted the Netherlands institute for Southern Africa (NiZA), in close cooperation with the Media Institute for Southern Africa (MISA), to organise a mission through South Africa, Malawi, Zimbabwe and Angola from 10 to 31 August 1998. This report is a result of that mission. The countries selected provide a good overview of the current state of affairs in Southern Africa. South Africa is still in the euphoric phase after having freed itself from apartheid, but, partly due to the increasing pressure brought to bear on a critical independent press, some cynicism about the future is becoming apparent. In Malawi it was only five years ago that the dictatorship under Banda made way for a hesitant democracy. Zimbabwe freed itself from colonialism eighteen years ago but still does not have a fully guaranteed freedom of expression. Angola, finally, which is one of the two Portuguese-language countries, is coping with a lengthy war, which has still not ended. After a preliminary investigation by NiZA and MISA, we decided to limit ourselves to these four countries. However, this does not imply that other countries in the region should be ignored. MISA publishes an annual survey of the state of the media in Southern Africa ('So this is democracy', MISA, Windhoek 1998). NiZ9A published a Media Cahier ('Media and Democratisation in Southern Africa') in 1997. Our aim is to add something new to the available factual knowledge by presenting in this report a series of articles and interviews that offer a review of the issues of the media in Southern Africa, in the manner of the media themselves. In all the countries concerned more people have been consulted than would appear from the interviews in this report. Preliminary research was conducted in March 1998 by Peter van den Akker (Johannesburg) and Bert Freriks and Bob van der Winden (NiZA). They visited over 40 media organisations in South Africa, varying from small community radio stations to the Freedom of Expression Institute. In Zimbabwe visits were paid to fifteen organisations, while the MISA chapter organised meetings with over ten individual journalists. We were able to attend a meeting of the Malawian chapter which brought us into contact with a few dozens of journalists and media organisations. Finally, in Angola we travelled round all media organisations, training institutes, government institutes and non-governmental organisations that wanted to raise something about the subject; in total we contacted more than 30 organisations and individuals. Jennifer Mufune, who is responsible for the contacts between MISA chapters in the various countries and MISA headquarters in Windhoek, was a member of the delegation. She, more than anybody else, is up to date with the current developments of the media in Southern Africa. Contributions to this report have been made by a media activist (Jennifer Mufune, MISA, Namibia), a journalist (Aart Brouwer, the Netherlands), a writer (Stephan Sanders, the Netherlands), a radio producer (Peter van den Akker, Johannesburg) and a programme officer of a donor organisation (Bob van der Winden, NiZA, the Netherlands). The appendix was prepared by the historian Maud van Gaal (the Netherlands). The report deals with the press and the broadcasting media in the four countries discussed. The focus of the discussion differs with each country. With regard to South Africa the focus is on the history of the media (Es'kia Mphahlele) and the booming community media sector (especially community radio). The contributions on Malawi show that after years of dictatorship all of a sudden anything is possible: 'Freedom is a bomb that explodes in your head.' In Zimbabwe we looked at the accessibility of the media for large communities in a stagnating society, while in Angola the obvious topic of interest was that of the impact of the war on the media. South Africa South Africa occupies a special place in the Southern African media landscape. Printed mass media have a much larger circulation than they have in the rest of the region. The Sowetan alone has a circulation of 1 million, which is more than the combined circulation of all newspapers in all the other SADC countries. The ongoing dominance of whites in journalism causes the press to be less pluralistic than one would expect on the basis of the large number of papers. Another problem faced by the South African press is the increasing intolerance from government circles vis-à-vis critical reporting. Self-censorship is another remnant of years of repression. The broadcasting sector is changing. Peter van den Akker, who has been involved in community radio in South Africa for several years, writes about the achievements, shortcomings and challenges of the medium. Malawi Stephan Sanders ('Drink and write') sketches the current situation in the country, concentrating on the media. In Malawi the delegation was made to face the fact that a genuine culture of pluralism and exchange of opinions cannot be expected to take root easily after centuries of colonialism and repression. This led to one of the main conclusions of our mission, viz., that support to the media will not suffice: the whole process of developing opinions and the fight for real freedom should be supported. Bob van der Winden ('Malawi still a one-radio state') describes the regularly changing political stand of media that are state-owned. A positive sign is to be discerned in the recently issued licence to a women's community radio station. Jennifer Mufune discusses the press in 'Freedom for those who own a press'. Of the 47 papers launched in 1991 the majority were established to support the aspirations of specific political groups and persons, and of the twenty periodicals left, most are still owned by political parties or individual politicians. Genuinely journalistic products are rare. Zimbabwe Stephan Sanders ('Freedom and opinion') depicts the limited access to the media which people in rural areas and gays and lesbians have in Zimbabwe. No newspapers appear in the rural areas and people cannot afford a radio or batteries. Even if they could, they would often not be able to receive the programmes; besides, of the latter only few are broadcasted in the local languages. Gays and lesbians in the cities, who have no access to the media either, contend with a different problem: they can read all the newspapers, but if anything is written about them at all, it is discriminatory. Jennifer Mufune ('Broadcasting in Zimbabwe') discusses the stagnating liberalisation of radio and television, while Bob van der Winden ('Bubbling Zimbabwe') describes new developments in the press that hopefully will lead to increased pluralism and an improved accessibility. Angola What is the impact on the freedom of thought of almost 40 years of war and a barely functioning society? The answer can be found in 'Angola, mon amour' by Stephan Sanders: self-censorship and a manipulated rosy image of the reality dominate most minds, also in journalism. Jennifer Mufune ('Independent media need support') and Bob van der Winden ('Media for millionaires') provide overviews of the most important problems facing the press and the broadcasting media, respectively. The most important problem is the prevalent polarisation of the media by the warring parties. There is no free information available: the two or three weekly magazines that can write reasonably freely have a circulation of only 15,000 on a population of 11 million. Moreover, they have to operate in the constraining environment of paper shortages, intimidation of editors, attacks and bans on the distribution. Conviction or lip service? In the appendix, Maud van Gaal offers an overview of the international treaties dealing with freedom of expression to which the SADC countries are party. Most Southern African countries support the principle of dualism in the rule of law, which means that every country needs to translate international treaties on the freedom of expression into national legislation for them to become operative nationally. International treaties alone provide too many escape routes. In both Malawi and Zimbabwe work has been done to design a comprehensive legislation. This example should be followed by other SADC countries. Conclusions The conclusions and recommendations of the delegation mainly aim at stimulating the exchange of ideas on new initiatives in this area. NiZA will therefore spread this report as widely as possible, especially in the Southern African region itself. NiZA will furthermore discuss the report with its partners in the region and like-minded organisations in Europe.
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