FXI outraged by Sowetan journo arrest

According to media reports, Memela was arrested in the city centre while covering an accident involving two cars.

“The FXI views this incident with great concern. It is clear that the police behave as if they are above the law and can act with complete impunity,” FXI director of operations Na'eem Jeenah told Bizcommunity.com yesterday, Thursday 14 February.

“Journalists have a job to do. In South Africa the freedom to do that job is constitutionally protected. We should all be concerned when the police think they can simply override those constitutional rights as they wish,” Jeenah added.

Incidents on the increase

Incidents whereby journalists were attacked and obstructed while doing their jobs are on the increase amid fears that media freedom is taking a dangerous turn in the land of Mandela.

Journalists who covered the ANC Conference in Polokwane last year still remember vividly how they were manhandled and physically threatened by marshals. Others were not only insulted but also barred from covering the country's next head of state's fourth wedding early this year.

Today, The Citizen newspaper also reports that police yesterday slammed the door in the faces of photographers waiting outside the court to catch a glimpse of Nkosinathi Nkosi (37), Innocent Siphiwe (28), David Nathi Busi (29) and Shadrack Shawe (33), the alleged killers of 12-year-old Emily Williams, a Trinity House Preparatory School Grade Seven pupil, who was hit on Tuesday by a stray bullet fired from a standoff between robbers and security guards in Fairlands, Johannesburg.

These incidents and many others have led critics and media analysts to believe that a cloudy sky hangs over Section 16 of the Constitution.

Do not display badges

Furthermore, Jeenah lashed out at ‘arrogant' cops who do not display their badges – especially during protests – and refuse to give their names to members of the public when asked to do so.

“We are constantly told by senior police officers that police must display their badges. The reality, however, is that they don't and they believe nothing can be done about it,” he said.

SAPA reported that the cop who arrested Memela declined to show his badge and was heard as saying to a reporter leaving the scene: “We will see each other another time.”

Media reports said Memela that appeared in court yesterday facing charges ranging from ‘inciting a riot' to ‘failing to comply with police instructions' and ‘resisting arrest', but had his case thrown out after the control prosecutor decline to prosecute.

Arrested worldwide

A total of 5307 journalists have been arrested worldwide between 1996 and 2006, according to the International News Safety Institute (INSI), with the bulk of the cases emanating from Africa and China, parts of the world that desperately aspire to grow their economies and fight poverty, but which boast very poor records on human rights.