Attacks on the Press in 2010 - Committee to Protect Journalists

Africa: Country Summariesin Mpumalanga province. Wa Afrika was detained on accusations of“fraud and defeating the ends of justice,” and his reporter notebooks wereconfiscated, according to news reports. He was released on bail after a dayin custody. But Ronald Ozzy Lamola, another youth league official, keptup the hot rhetoric, calling for wa Afrika to be charged with “treason” for“peddling lies.”The tone reflected increasing anti-press antagonism from the ANCYouth League and its leader, Malema, a brash 29-year-old known for stirringthe frustrations of millions of poor, mostly black South Africans.In April, Malema expressed unconditional support for the president ofneighboring Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe. Although South Africa’s ANCledadministrations have led mediation efforts throughout Zimbabwe’spolitical crisis, Malema castigated Zimbabwean opposition leadersin a press conference. He also expelled a journalist from the briefing.BBC reporter Jonah Fisher, one of several journalists attending thepress conference at ANC headquarters in Johannesburg, was orderedto leave after challenging the ANC leader’s criticism of Zimbabwe’sopposition Movement for Democratic Change, according to news reports.Malema had lambasted the party for maintaining offices in the affluentJohannesburg suburb of Sandton. When Fisher pointed out that Malemawas himself a Sandton resident, the ANC leader unleashed a series ofinsults, the mildest of which involved calling the journalist “a small boy.”Asked why he expelled Fisher, Malema told reporters: “When we speak,you behave like you are in an American press conference? It’s not America.It’s Africa.” In a statement, the ANC condemned Malema’s behavior as“aggressive and insulting,” according to news reports.UgandaAuthorities harassed and obstructed journalists covering two storiesthat shook the nation: a fire that destroyed a historic Bugandakingdom site and twin terror bombings in the capital. The press won animportant legal victory as the Constitutional Court struck down a criminalsedition statute that had been used to silence critical journalists. But journalistsfaced new threats as the president signed a sweeping surveillancemeasure that could chill news reporting, while the administration draftedlegislation that could expand regulatory powers over newspapers. Rulingparty officials and supporters assaulted journalists covering oppositioncandidates in local balloting, an ill omen as the country prepared for the2011 presidential and parliamentary elections.55