Media organisations have slammed threats by the government to clamp down on journalists, saying stricter laws would cause a local and international backlash.
Tusi Fokane, director of the South African branch of the Media Institute of Southern Africa, said it would be very difficult to pass strict media laws, considering the country’s close proximity to Zimbabwe, where harsh laws are applied against journalists.
”There would be a huge international and local backlash. In South Africa, democracy and the Constitution are supreme,” she said.
”I don’t think the government would be able to pass such a law easily. It would be interesting to see how they go about doing it.”
The debate started last week when Minister of Minerals and Energy Minister Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka reacted angrily to ”unnecessary alarm” caused when reports were published about radiation levels at the Pelindaba nuclear facility.
She said there was no radiation threat and that the media had failed to check the facts with the government.
”We are considering strengthening the law so that if people make such allegations, there is a sanction,” Mlambo-Ngcuka.
The minister said South Africa will study laws in other countries criminalising the spreading of inciting and panic-causing information.
President Thabo Mbeki also entered the debate, dismissing statements about the existence of radioactive waste at the site as ”reckless” and ”very regrettable”.
But just days after Mlambo-Ngcuka’s comments, more news reports were published, with an occupational health expert finding that out of a sample of 23 former Pelindaba workers, 10 showed signs of exposure to hazardous substances.
Many of the workers were said to have diseases such as lung cancer, neurological disorders, miscarriages and other cancers.
The Department of Minerals and Energy has launched an investigation into the matter.
Herman Wasserman, a journalism lecturer at the University of Stellenbosch, said South Africa has enough media watchdogs, such as the press ombudsman and Broadcasting Complaints Commission.
”It is not the government’s place to clamp down on the media,” he said. ”There are enough bodies in place for the media to self-regulate.”
He said the government would have difficulty enacting strict media laws.
”I think the government would not be able to impose such a law without being met with strong resistance,” Wasserman said.
The Freedom of Expression Institute (FXI) said it is deeply alarmed at the government ”threats”.
It said strict media laws would chill freedom of expression by encouraging self-censorship.
”Such laws will inevitably be used to censor individuals, organisations and the media who attempt to raise pressing issues of public concern, and will foreclose on the search for truth in controversial matters through public debate,” the group said.
”It will also chill freedom of expression by encouraging self-censorship, as organisations may stop making controversial statements out of fear of prosecution.”
The FXI said censoring organisations that raise ”compelling public interest matters” is not the answer.
If their concerns prove to be false alarms, the group said, then they will be discredited in the eyes of the public, which will be the ultimate deterrent for organisations making baseless statements. — Sapa