State of the media in Southern Africa - 2004 Court cases and legal hiccoughs Two workers were shot dead by armed policemen during a peaceful protest organised by the Factory Workers’ Union (FAWU) in November 2003. The march was organised to hand over a petition against the minimum wage to the Minister of Labour and Employment, Sello Machakela. The police permit stipulated that the protest should take place between 8 am and 4 pm. The shooting took place around 12.20 pm. FAWU general secretary Macaefa Billy and his deputy, Willy Matseo, were arrested for causing public agitation. They won the court case and government has appealed. Since Candi Ratabane Ramainoane, the MoAfrika editor, paid Moeketsi Sello ZAR167 000 as compensation and punitive damages for defamation, plaintiffs have popped up out of nowhere to institute a myriad of lawsuits against the financially weak independent media. The Mirror took the trend to the next level by initiating an out-of-court settlement with a plaintiff, Mopshatla Mabitle, as outlined by Thabo Motlamelle in the 2003 “So This Is Democracy” edition. Media solidarity in the face of authoritative adversity suffered a set-back when a newly formed English tabloid newspaper, Our Times, was threatened with closure within a month of hitting the streets. It was served with a summons by lawyers representing Public Eye, who demanded ZAR139 094 as compensation for damages to business status and reputation. Our Times had reported that the Public Eye publisher and editor-in-chief, Bethuel Thai, also the director of the newspaper’s publisher, Voice Multimedia, had sold the newspaper to a South African company because he and his wife intended to enter the printing press business. In December, the saga reached its climax with Our Times losing the M139 094 defamation case in absentia at the High Court in a case presided over by Chief Justice Mahapela Lehohla. Our Times management insists it was never summoned to the hearing. In another incident, the author of the article, Moeti Thelejane, who was also editor of Our Times, was threatened with a defamation lawsuit by the Public Eye consultant editor Crosbey Mwanza, a Zambian national, for reporting that he owed MISA-Lesotho some money and that the institution’s 2004 AGM had recommended that the secretariat secure the services of a debt collector to get Mwanza to cough up. A short time after levelling the threat, Mwanza left the country, after paying only about a third of the money he owed. For the first time in the history of Lesotho’s independent media, fears were raised that this infighting and lack of media solidarity would give the authorities an opportunity to intervene. It was feared that any intervention may result in the tabling of draconian laws. Efforts by ‘good Samaritans’ to assist a controversial tabloid, The Lesotho Sunday News - which came out once, on a Wednesday, and was never seen again - were futile. Setsomi sa Litaba, a two-in-one publication with The Mirror newspaper, lost a defamation case against a former nurse and had its removable property seized by the sheriff of the High Court. In another turn of events, The Mirror received a summons to appear in court in connection with a defamation case. The plaintiff, Moeketse Malebo, a political party leader and parliamentarian, is demanding ZAR700 000 in damages following an article that reported he had kept two tractors, which belonged to communities in eastern Maseru, for his personal use. In April, The Mirror and Mohahlaula newspapers were shut down after being served with a writ of execution on behalf of one Nthakeng Selinyane, a former MISA-Lesotho chairperson, So This Is Democracy? 2004 50 Media Institute of Southern Africa