Botswana: Constitutionality of Botswana's Media Practitioner's Act
23rd November 2010

SALC is supporting a challenge to the constitutionality of Botswana’s Media Practitioner’s Act (MPA), which subjects private media to state regulation.   

Of particular concern are sections of the law that require journalists to be registered and accredited on threat of criminal sanction, provide for the establishment of Complaints and Appeals committees which are not independent of the state, and oblige the media to publish replies from members of the public who have been the subject of media reports, with the same prominence as the original publication.   

This law is symptomatic of a trend in Southern Africa.  Zimbabwe already has repressive media laws, such as the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act, while Swaziland and Zambia are trying to push through similar bills. 

The applicant’s founding affidavit urges the court to find that sections of the MPA violate Section 12 of the Botswana Constitution, which guarantees freedom of expression.  Papers in the MPA case will only be filed in January next year as the Botswana attorney, Mr. Dick Bayford, is still finalizing drafting the founding affidavits.

 

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