Lusaka, September 20, 2022 – Former South African President Jacob Zuma and his legal team should immediately drop their private criminal prosecution against Karyn Maughan, a reporter with the privately owned News24 site, and allow the press to report on court proceedings without intimidation or fear of reprisal, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday….
On October 21, 2021, in the lead up to South Africa’s municipal elections on November 1, supporters of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) held a news team from the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) against their will for two hours demanding coverage from the public broadcaster. On election day, SABC reported another crew was…
Lusaka, Zambia, July 13, 2021 – South African authorities must swiftly and thoroughly investigate recent attacks on media outlets and journalists covering civil unrest in the country, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Since July 4, protests have broken out in at least two provinces, KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng, which began over the jailing of…
On June 10, 2021, a group of supporters of the South African Economic Freedom Fighters opposition party harassed and threatened reporter Ayesha Ismail and camera operator Mario Pedro, with the privately owned broadcaster eNCA, while they tried to cover an anti-racism protest in Cape Town, according to video of the incident shared on social media…
South Africa’s highest court, the Constitutional Court, handed down a landmark judgment on February 4 that not only protects journalists and their sources from surveillance abuse, but also upheld a lower court’s ruling that the insidious practice of the bulk interception of ordinary citizens’ data and communication is illegal. The ruling, documented by CPJ, was…
New York, February 4, 2021 – In response to the South African Constitutional Court’s decision today to uphold a 2019 High Court ruling that invalidated legislation allowing for the surveillance of members of the press, the Committee to protect Journalists issued the following statement: “Journalist Sam Sole’s communications should never have been intercepted, but the…
New York, October 9, 2020 — South African authorities must conduct a swift and transparent investigation into recent attacks on journalists covering protests held by farmers, and hold those responsible to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On October 6, in the Free State province town of Senekal, a protesting farmer harassed and…
New York, May 18, 2020 — Authorities in South Africa should conduct a swift investigation into the beating of journalist Paul Nthoba and drop all charges against him, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
Johannesburg-based freelance journalist Yeshiel Panchia was on his way to cover a story about a local developer who had found a way to keep his wage laborers employed during South Africa’s coronavirus lockdown by letting them live on the construction site so that they didn’t have to leave “home” in contravention of strict rules.
New York, March 19, 2020 – The Committee to Protect Journalists expressed concern over newly passed regulations in South Africa that criminalize disinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic and could potentially prompt other countries to adopt more repressive rules and censorship against the press.