So might the South African Police's Division of Public Relations; and that of the South African Prisons Service and the State Security Council. Media law experts say the new controls over "news agencies" are so wide-ranging that probably all 40 of the liaison offices of the various sectors of the government will fall within their ambit.
So might most of the country's law firms; dozens of organisations such as the South African Institute of Race Relations (SAIRR) and the Centre for Applied Legal Studies (Cals) which circulated information for publication; public relations divisions in every large company; and individuals ranging from foreign correspondents to church members who contribute to their local parish newsletter. There is consensus that the primary targets of the government action are the "alternative" news agencies and South Africans who work for the foreign media. Their work and livelihood are directly threatened by the regulations.
However, the definition within the Emergency regulations encompasses dozens of others. In order to qualify as a "news agency" and fall subject to the Emergency controls one simply has to be involved in the "gathering, preparations, compilation, recording, processing or production of news material" and supplying such material for publication locally or internationally. There are only three categories that are exempt: major news agencies that are listed in the Government Gazette (such as Sapa, Reuters and Associated Press); people who do this work in a "casual or isolated" way; and those who are in the exclusive employ of one publication, television or radio station.
In other words, any individual or organisation that regularly provides material for publication to more than one outlet would fall within the new controls. Thus law firms would be affected if they informed newspapers or other publications of developments in their field. So would organisations that regularly provided statistics or opinions, such as the SAIRR's regular reports or Cals' civil rights monitoring reports. The only proviso is that the information they circulate would have to be news material. There is nothing to exclude a church member who sent news articles to a parish newsletter.
Similarly, there is no exemption for government liaison offices. As long as they are supplying more than one outlet, they will have to sign up at the Department of Home Affairs. The same would apply to almost every public relations operation, both those within organisations such as the Chamber of Mines and private PR companies. In terms of the regulations, the minister of home affairs will not be able to refuse registration. But he will be able immediately to de-register anyone who he believes is a threat to public safety or to law and order or is delaying the termination of the Emergency.
De-registration means that agency will no longer be able to perform its work – and the minister has the sole discretion to refuse re-registration. A meeting of about 60 freelance journalists, news agencies and others hit by the new regulations last Friday called on all journalists not to register in terms of the new regulations until all other channels have been exhausted. Attorneys have been briefed to investigate the possibility that the regulations are ultra vires and invalid.
This article originally appeared in Weekly Mail.
