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- Eswatini's new prime minister plans to implement media regulation.
- Russell Dlamini told editors that their failure to activate self-regulation would see the government stepping in.
- He is said to also be concerned about underpaid journalists.
Eswatini's new Prime Minister Russell Dlamini has begun his term of office with a threat to regulate the media.
In a meeting with members of the Eswatini Editors Forum (EEF) at the Cabinet offices on 14 February, Dlamini said he would enact the long-dormant Media Commission Bill to create a government-controlled media regulation body.
He was addressing editors for the first time since he was appointed by King Mswati III in 2023.
Editors left the meeting surprised by the prime minister's hard-line and fearful of their future in a country with limited media freedom.
Though the meeting was behind closed doors, the Campaign For Free Expression reliably gathered that Dlamini was highly critical of news content, especially in independent newspapers. One person who was present at the gathering said the prime minister cited the media's failure to set up a self-regulatory mechanism.
A few years ago the EEF set up the Media Complaints Commission (MCC), a self-regulation body that is yet to be operational.
Said [one] inside source:
Dlamini is also said to have registered concern over poor salaries and working conditions in some publications that are making high profits.
Some members of the EEF are said to have been displeased with his tone and asked to be given time and resources to make the MCC function.
Editors pointed out that the government was as much to blame for the MCC's inaction because broadcast media, which is controlled by the government, had not shown any interest in it.
Asked to engage further on this issue, Dlamini is said to have "toned down".
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The prime minister's concerns came after similar submissions by former president of the Swaziland National Association of Journalists and now MP Welcome Dlamini, who said in Parliament that the Media Commission Bill should be revived if the media fails to regulate itself.
The threat of government regulation is a common thread across several southern African countries. In South Africa, the ANC threatened for some time to impose a statutory Media Tribunal because it felt the self-regulatory Press Council was not tough enough on the media. Although the party passed a series of conference resolutions on the matter, it has not taken the matter forward.
The Botswana government has enacted a law invoking a Media Council, but has not set it up yet.
A significant factor is that moves to set up independent self-regulatory bodies in several countries have been flagged, largely due to financial issues. South Africa is the exception, with an active Press Council in place.
Harber writes as executive director of the Campaign for Free Expression, which works to expand and protect free expression across southern Africa.
