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Auditor-General Lauds Journalists at SANEF Council

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The South African National Editors’ Forum (SANEF) held its first Council meeting for 2022 on 12 February 2022 in Cape Town and deliberated on various issues plaguing the media industry and the country.

SANEF held robust discussions with the Auditor-General, Tsakani Maluleke, engaging her on the critical work of accountability in public funding and resources spent, and Water and Sanitation Minister, Senzo Mchunu, as government commits to prioritise water security, investment in water resources and maintenance.

Maluleke acknowledged the role of the media in ensuring the public is informed on the work of her office, including service delivery failures and corruption, often providing early warnings about critical areas that can inform their work.

“The media has also been a critical partner in highlighting our audit findings and ensuring they do not go unnoticed. As a case in point, I was particularly pleased by the extent to which the media used our reports, as reference point, during the 2021 local government elections. I want to assure you of our unreserved appreciation for that and for doing your work diligently and without fear or favour,” Maluleke said.

Minister Mchunu decried the numerous plans by successive ministers in his portfolio, highlighting that eradication of pit latrines, reconfiguration of water boards, and resolving the Vaal River sewage spillage will be prioritised during his tenure.

“We need a plan for water reticulation and sanitation that can be implemented by the department irrespective of a minister in the office. The department of Water and Sanitation wants to deal with the problem of the bucket system once and for all. However, it must start with pre-planning for settlements because often settlements are created and then the department starts following behind with water supply and sanitation requirements.

MEDIA ISSUES:

  1. Access to the courts 

SANEF is aggrieved by the deteriorating access for journalists to the country’s Magistrates and High Courts.

Despite access to the courts being secured in the Bill of Rights, which forms part of the Constitution, we have seen magistrates and judges arbitrarily barring journalists from covering public proceedings or imposing rules of access that are both unfair and irrational.

In the latest incident, Western Cape Judge President John Hlophe imposed an application process for journalists to attend the bail hearing review application of Zandile Christmas Mafe, the man accused of burning Parliament, after he was referred by the state to the Valkenberg Psychiatric Hospital.

SANEF wrote to the Judge President in January and is yet to receive a response.

In 2020, SANEF celebrated the Magistrates’ Commission having set national guidelines regarding media access to court proceedings, following months of campaigning.

However, magistrates across the country have ignored their own guidelines. SANEF has tirelessly tried to engage the commission with no success.

SANEF council resolved to write to the Acting Chief Justice Raymond Zondo to plead with him to intervene in this clear violation of the Constitution.

“We have received numerous reports from journalists in various provinces, complaining that they have had to apply for permission to cover court proceedings, sometimes arguing their cases in the magistrates chamber,” SANEF deputy chair Adriaan Basson said.

  1. Nat Nakasa grave

SANEF reiterated its disappointment that the eThekwini municipality is yet to fulfil its promise to restore the tombstone of journalist and anti-apartheid icon, Nat Nakasa.

The tombstones of Nakasa and late former Orlando Pirates and Bafana Bafana goalkeeper, Senzo Meyiwa, lie desecrated at the Heroes Acre in Chesterville, Durban.

  1. Media sustainability 

SANEF council deliberated on journalism sustainability, including fair competition in the digital economy between news media and tech platforms and we are considering engaging the Competition Commission in this regard.

SANEF is also looking at projects that will support the sustainable future of community media as the coalface of information to society.

  1. SABC matters

SANEF, in partnership with Campaign for Free Expression, will continue to push for the SABC grievance hearing against CEO, Madoda Mxakwe, and Board Chair, Bongumusa Makhathini, to be opened to the public. Now fired SABC chief executive Phathiswa Magopeni accused them of editorial interference.

We are also concerned by the growing trend of law-enforcement agencies making no progress in investigations of callous criminal acts of those threatening the lives of journalists, especially during elections. We again call on police to bring to court those threatening Lesedi FM journalists who have been threatened with rape, beatings and death and left threatening graffiti on the walls of the SABC offices in Mangaung, Free State.

For more information please contact:

  • Mahlatse Mahlase – SANEF Chairperson, (083) 399-2852
  • Katy Katopodis – SANEF Deputy Chairperson, (082) 805-7022
  • Moipone Malefane – SANEF Secretary-General (082) 772-5861
  • Mary Papayya – SANEF Media Freedom Chair (082) 379-4957
  • Sbu Ngalwa – SANEF Eastern Cape Convenor (073) 404-1415
  • Janet Heard – SANEF Western Cape Convenor (078) 041-9528
  • Hopewell Radebe – SANEF Gauteng Regional Convenor (083) 582-1734
  • Judy Sandison – SANEF KZN Convenor (082) 571-3334
  • Kate Skinner – SANEF Executive Director – (082) 926-6404

Socials

Twitter: @SAEditorsForum

Email: [email protected]

Website: SANEF

Access to Information & Regulatory

Magistrates’ Commission Sets Guidelines Regarding Media Access to Courts

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After months of campaigning for media access to the magistrates’ courts, the South African National Editors’ Forum (SANEF) is pleased to report that the Magistrates’ Commission has set national guidelines regarding media access to court proceedings. They also describe procedures for applications for permission to photograph, film or record court proceedings, primarily, high profile cases.

The guidelines are meant to assist magistrates around the country strike a balance between the media’s right to report, broadcast and publish court proceedings and the right to a fair trial. There have been certain conflicts between the right to freedom of expression and the open justice principle, on the one hand, and the right to a fair trial, as well other competing constitutional rights such as the privacy of the witnesses and other interested or affected parties, on the other hand.

Click here to access the Guidelines.

Click here to access the Notice of Application for Media Access to Courts

SANEF believes that these guidelines reinforce freedom of the press as well as the country’s democracy that recognises the fact that the court must be open and accessible to the public unless there is a good reason not to. These rights are enshrined in the Constitution. The Constitution endorses freedom of expression, including the freedom of the press and other media and the freedom to receive or impart information.

However, SANEF has had to condemn an increasing number of incidents involving members of the Metro police and SAPS who prevented journalists from reporting on court proceedings where neither the justice department nor the magistrate gave a directive to bar the journalists.

In April 2020, the media was stopped from entering the courts in Cape Town to report on the case of 55-year-old Stephen Birch of Parow who was arrested for posting a disinformation video about contaminated COVID-19 test kits. Birch has been released on a warning to appear in court for a second time for contravening regulation 11 (5) of the National Disaster Management Act. Police physically removed journalists who were there to report the proceedings – and did not give reasons for ejecting the media.

In January 2020, SAPS officials barred journalists from using electronic devices, including laptops and taking pictures inside the Durban Commercial Crimes court during the appearance of former Ethekwini Mayor Zandile Gumede. Gumede and her co-accused, are implicated in a 2016 R389-million Durban Solid Waste tender contract. This was not the decision or the order of the presiding magistrate.

The guidelines are clear that all representatives of the media “shall have the right to attend any court proceedings to report on such proceedings”. They also state that reporting should not in any way interfere with proceedings and it should be balanced and fair.

SANEF has also made unsuccessful applications in the past on behalf of media houses urging the court to allow journalists to broadcast court proceedings. The guidelines now stipulate that courts “ought not to restrict the nature and scope of the coverage, broadcasting and publication unless prejudice is demonstrable”. It says that mere conjecture or speculation that prejudice might occur is not to be enough”.

We call on all media houses and court reporters to become familiar with these guidelines. If The guidelines grant the media the right to take still photographs, and video footage during court proceedings, in the following circumstances, unless the court otherwise directs:

  • Court activities for fifteen minutes before the commencement of proceedings each day;
  • During any adjournment of proceedings or at the end of proceedings;
  • Any argument presented to the court where no evidence is led including but not limited to opening and closing argument and sentencing; and
  • Judgment and/or any other judicial rulings.

Lastly, the guidelines also state that individual journalists may record the proceedings on handheld digital devices, including mobile telephones and may use such digital devices to take photographs where no flashes are used without disrupting the proceedings.

SANEF regards the guidelines as a milestone after months of engaging the Magistrates’ Commission. We believe they will go a long way towards facilitating a cordial working relationship between the courts and the media in South Africa.

Note to Editors: The South African National Editors’ Forum (SANEF) is a non-profit organisation whose members are editors, senior journalists and journalism trainers from all areas of the South African media. We are committed to championing South Africa’s hard-won freedom of expression and promoting quality, ethics and diversity in the South African media. We promote excellence in journalism through fighting for media freedom, writing policy submissions, research and education and training programmes. SANEF is not a union.

For more information please contact:

  • Sbu Ngalwa – SANEF Chairperson (073) 404-1415
  • Adriaan Basson – SANEF Deputy Chairperson (082) 562-2113
  • Mahlatse Mahlase – Secretary General (083) 399-2852
  • Nwabisa Makunga – Treasurer (082) 555-1972
  • Mary Papayya – SANEF Media Freedom Chair (082) 379-4957
  • Asanda Ngoasheng – Western Cape Convenor – 082 610 9374
  • Judy Sandison – SANEF KZN Convenor (082) 571-3334
  • Katy Katopodis – SANEF Gauteng Convenor (082) 805-7022
  • Chiara Carter – SANEF Eastern Cape Convenor (082) 659-9162
  • Kate Skinner – SANEF Executive Director – (082) 926-6404

Socials

Twitter: @SAEditorsForum

Email: [email protected]

Website: SANEF