South Africa

2012

  
SABC acting Chief Operating Officer Hlaudi Motsoeneng answers questions about censorship at the broadcaster on December 6. (Madelene Cronjé/MG)

Worrying trends at South Africa’s public broadcaster

South Africa is in the midst of one of its most important political events–the ruling African National Congress’s Mangaung elective conference, which takes place once every five years to shape policy and elect new leadership.  Because of the power of the ANC as South Africa’s leading political party, the conference holds not only the future…

Read More ›

Alf Kumalo being arrested at a boxing match in Johannesburg in May 1976. (Alf Kumalo Foundation and Photographic Museum)

Remembering South African photojournalist Alf Kumalo

Photojournalist Alf Kumalo, whose career chronicled the inception, injustice, and demise of apartheid in South Africa, passed away on Sunday in a Johannesburg hospital at the age of 82.

Read More ›

A protest against the Protection of Information Bill outside parliament in Cape Town, November 22, 2011. (Reuters/Mike Hutchings)

South African Secrecy Bill kept at bay, for now

South African journalists and civil society groups were uneasy this month amid rumors that the Protection of State Information Bill, commonly known as the Secrecy Bill, would pass the Upper House of parliament, the last step before a presidential signature. Since 2008, journalists and civil society have lobbied against the bill, which many fear would…

Read More ›

The censored November issue of Mail & Guardian. (CPJ)

South African journalists probed over scandal coverage

Johannesburg, July 30, 2012–South African authorities should immediately drop a criminal investigation against three newspaper journalists who have sought to report details on a multi-billion-dollar arms scandal, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

Read More ›

A screen shot of a graphic released by City Press' parent company that samples tweets from around the country. (Media24/Andrew Trench)

South Africans clash on Twitter over #Zumaspear

South African journalist and arts critic Charl Blignaut made what turned out to be an excellent prediction. “Of all the work on show, it’s this depiction of the president that will set the most tongues wagging and most likely generate some howls of disapproval,” he wrote on May 13 in a review of an art…

Read More ›

Protesters burn a copy of the City Press newspaper. (AFP/Rajesh Jantilal)

South African paper harassed over painting of Zuma

New York, May 30, 2012–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the campaign of harassment and intimidation against a newspaper in South Africa after it published a photo of a painting of President Jacob Zuma more than two weeks ago.

Read More ›

Zimbabwe detains, deports award-winning photojournalist

On April 16, 2012, the Zimbabwe Republic Police in the southern border town of Beitbridge arrested Robin Hammond, a freelance photojournalist with dual U.K. and New Zealand citizenship, as he reported on migration between Zimbabwe and neighboring South Africa, government-controlled state daily The Herald reported.

Read More ›

Audio slideshow: Supporting family of Anton Hammerl

Freelance photographer Anton Hammerl was killed in Libya on April 5, 2011. Friends of Hammerl are holding an auction May 15 to raise funds for his three children. James Foley elaborates.

Read More ›

CCTV's East Africa operations are headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya. (CCTV)

China’s media footprint in Kenya

Will China’s quickly expanding media presence in Africa result in a fresh, alternative, and balanced perspective on the continent–much as Al-Jazeera altered the broadcast landscape with the launch of its English service in 2006–or will it be essentially an exercise in propaganda?

Read More ›

Civil unrest grips downtown Kampala. Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni said journalists who covered the protests were 'enemies' of the country's development. (AP/Stephen Wandera)

Attacks on the Press: Development Trumps Freedom

Many African leaders continue to offer a false choice between stability and press freedom. Taking a cue from China, a key investor and model, they stress social stability and development over openness and reform. By Mohamed Keita

Read More ›

2012