ANALYSIS OF COVID-19 REGULATIONS VIS-À-VIS FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION IN THE SADC REGION managing the crisis that transparency and accountability measures may be compromised deliberately or inadvertently and corruption or wrongdoing can go unchecked as the decisions are made in the absence of any scrutiny or checks and balance. Whilst there is an indication of commitments to protect whistle-blowers globally134 , in the SADC region, there is a legal vacuum with regards to whistle-bower protection. In cases where criminal sanctions have been adopted against publication and communication of false statements/news, there should be robust whistle blower protection. In the SADC region, none of the laws on access to information promote proactive disclosure of information held by public bodies. In such a context, combined with anti-false news legislation, statements by whistle-blowers could be easily construed as false information. The overemphasis of publication of false news and statements that denounce whistle-blowers creates a situation where whistle-blowers do not feel safe, and this ultimately could silence those who wish to report wrongdoing in the interest of the public. It will be prudent to even establish some safeguards to protect whistle blowers like establishing an ombudsman during the pandemic and beyond. This will enable citizens or the public to hold officials accountable during the pandemic. Whistle-blower protection is central to freedom of expression and the promotion of transparency and accountability and supressing whistleblowers negatively impacts on the right to freedom of expression and raises pertinent questions about the government’s commitment to saving the lives of the people through containment of the deadly pandemic. It is in such a context that Whistle-blowers are valued as they often detect such delinquencies. 130 Corruption tendencies have been reported in Zimbabwe and a minister of health was arrested for alleged procedural misconduct in the procurement of health equipment that will be used as part of the response to the pandemic. 131 Whistle-bower protection enables those that are in a position to expose wrongdoing such as journalists, healthcare workers or government personnel to do so without fear. The Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information in Africa enshrines a principle of protecting disclosures in the public interest.132It places an obligation on states to adopt laws to establish protected disclosure regimes so that, No person shall be subject to civil, criminal, administrative or employment- related or other sanctions or harm, for releasing information on wrongdoing or which discloses a serious threat to health, safety or the environment, or whose disclosure is in the public interest, in the honest belief that such information is substantially true. 133 130 ‘COVID-19 is a chilling reminder of why the world needs to protect whistleblowers’ https://oecdonthelevel.com/2020/05/18/covid19-is-a-chilling-reminder-of-why-the-world-needs-to-protect-whistleblowers/ (accessed 15 June 2020). 131 ‘Zimbabwe’s health minister nabbed over graft charges’ 20 June 2020 https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/zimbabwe-s-health- minister-nabbed-over-graft-charges/1884124 (accessed 22 June 2020). 132 Declaration, principle 35. 133 Declaration, principle 35 (1) 134 G20 High-Level Principles for the Effective Protection of Whistle-blowers https://www.bmjv.de/SharedDocs/Downloads/EN/G20/ G20_2019_High-Level- Principles_Whistleblowers.pdf? blob=publicationFile&v=1 (accessed 15 June 2020). https://zimbabwe.misa.org 27