STATE OF PRESS FREEDOM IN SOUTHERN AFRICA REPORT 2021 56 While the government has committed to improving the safety and security environment, on the ground, the situation is markedly different. (3) unnecessary way” work of journalists. with the But despite this court order, media violations persisted. Security officials and political operatives regularly abuse journalists with impunity. This is a pattern that has continued each time the government has tightened lockdown restrictions. The Constitution, in sections 61 and 62, explicitly guarantees freedom of the media and of expression. Journalists also continue to be abused at rallies organised by Zimbabwe’s leading political parties. However, with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, violations against media workers escalated, with journalists being routinely arrested, detained or assaulted. (4) This is despite the fact that media workers were deemed essential workers. In 2020, MISA Zimbabwe approached the courts seeking an order barring the police and other law enforcement agencies charged with the enforcement of the COVID-19 lockdown regulations from arresting, detaining or interfering “in any MEDIA INDEPENDENCE Despite court rulings compelling the state controlled Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) to operate independently, it continues to be partisan, with little regard being given to opposition parties. This is an observation that was pointed out by observer missions that observed the country’s 2018 general elections. (5) (6) A hallmark of the Zimbabwean media scene is that it is highly polarised, with the state media decidedly against the opposition, while the private media is also unashamedly anti-government. Government officials tend to give interviews to the uncritical State media and shut out private media. Instead of playing the normative watchdog role, public media has literally become mouthpieces of the government and are very hostile to the opposition. (7) However, in the past few years, a relatively new phenomenon known as “media capture” has emerged, where the government has sought to co-opt critical media players. (8) Media capture comes in many forms, such as sponsorship, advertisements or takeovers. While there is general acceptance that there is media capture in Zimbabwe, this is a