Impact of Covid 19 on Media Sustainability https://zimbabwe.misa.org charges. It is unknown if Lagardien was targeted because he was operating as a journalist, but SANEF has expressed concern about a number of assaults on, and robberies of equipment from, journalists, this year, noting media professionals were often victims of opportunistic criminals, militia and security personnel. 88 Sometimes journalists find themselves in the figurative crossfire between authorities and citizens. Their professional appearance in public as they attempt to interview or merely find out what is happening make journalists vulnerable. In July rocks were thrown at the car and head of News24 journalist Jenni Evans covering protests in Khayelitsha in Cape Town. She was injured and her phone was stolen.89 A Cape Town freelance journalist, Jacques Marais, described in great detail how police threatened, abused and prevented him covering police heavy-handed treatment of citizens in a lockdown story in Masiphumelele Township.90 (known as RSF) observed: Abuse of law Angela Quintal, the CPJ’s Africa Program Coordinator noted in May: “The Covid-19 pandemic has given many governments across Africa the cover of a legitimate global health crisis to try to opportunistically control the press and the public’s right to know.” At the end of May, Reporters without Borders Since launching Tracker-19, which logs press freedom violations linked to the Covid-19 epidemic, RSF has registered more than 30 arbitrary arrests of journalists in sub-Saharan Africa. Six of them have been in Zimbabwe, which is proving to be one of the most hostile environments, to the point that the High Court issued an order on 20 April forbidding police to harass or detain journalist in the course of their work. Two Zimbabwean journalists were arrested and detained in May, ostensibly for breaking Covid-19 lockdown rules by entering a hospital to interview members of the opposition “who were being treated for injuries sustained after being abducted and tortured by suspected security agents.91 The arrest and detention of journalist Hopewell Chin’ono after he revealed Covid-19 procurement fraud within the Health Ministry hit the headlines outside the country, drawing unfavorable attention to the administration of President Emmerson Mnangagwa. As it happens, Chin’ono sees his falling out of favour with the government caused by an attempt to reform State-controlled Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation – something the government clearly opposed – rather than the Covid-19 revelations as such.92 Chin’ono was arrested and his bail hearing delayed but others 88. SANEF, “SANEF Condemns Attack on Writer & Columnist Ismail Lagardien in Kleinmond’s Abalone Protest » SANEF | Protecting Media Freedom,” SANEF | Protecting Media Freedom (blog), October 7, 2020, https://sanef.org.za/ sanef-condemns-attack-on-writer-columnist-ismail-lagardien-in-kleinmonds-abalone- protest/. 89. Coalition for Women in Journalism, “South Africa: News24 Reporter Jenni Evans Attacked on Ground. Protests in and around Cape Town,” The Coalition for Women in Journalism, July 23, 2020, https://womeninjournalism.org/cfwij-press-statements/southafrica-news24-reporter-jenni-evans-attacked- on-ground-protests-in-and-around-cape-town-should-not-lead-to-violence-towardsjournalists. 90. SANEF, “SANEF AND SAFREA CALL ON LAW ENFORCEMENT MEMBERS (SAPS, METRO POLICE AND ARMY) TO STOP THEIR HOSTILITY AND HARASSMENT OF JOURNALISTS » SANEF | Protecting Media Freedom,” SANEF | Protecting Media Freedom (blog), April 10, 2020, https://sanef.org.za/sanef-and-safrea-call-on-law- enforcement-members-saps-metro-police-and-army-tostop-their-hostility-and-harassment-of-journalists/. 91. Columbus Mavhunga, “Zimbabwe Detains 2 Journalists for Breaking COVID Lockdown Rules | Voice of America - English,” Voice of America, May 23, 2020, https://www.voanews.com/africa/zimbabwe-detains-2- journalists-breaking-covid-lockdown-rules. 92. Ranga Mberi, “The Symbol of a Disillusioned Zimbabwe -Journalist Hopewell Chin’ono Backed President Emmerson Mnangagwa When He Succeeded Robert Mugabe. Now He’s in Jail.” The Continent, August 8, 2020, 17. 26