SWAZILAND WOULD PREFER SUNSHINE JOURNALISM

THREE freelance journalists in Swaziland have been warned by the state police that they should stop writing negatively about the country and the King. The journalists are Lunga Masuku of African Eye News Service, Thulani Mthethwa who does some work for British Broadcasting Corporation and South African Press Association and Bheki Matsebula who writes for the Sowetan Sunday World and City Press. The warning comes after thre three wrote articles about the King’s new fianc Ntsentselelo Magongo (17). Other articles published in the foreign press mentioned that one of the King’s bodyguards had been fatally wounded after sustaining gun shot wounds. The police confiscated notebooks and arrested Masuku and Matsebula at the High Court Building on October 29. The journalist were covering the court case where President of the Swaziland’s People’s United Democratic Movement (Pudemo) Mario Masuku was standing trial for having addressed a mass meeting of protesting workers last year. – Misa-Swaziland