· ALERT Date: May 27, 2005 Persons/Institutions: Mail and Guardian Violation: Censored The Johannesburg High Court has banned the publication of an article revealing a corruption scandal involving the ruling ANC party. South Africa’s ‘Oilgate’ scandal involves millions of rand channelled from the state via an oil company to the ANC to fund the party’s 2004 election campaign. The High Court has ordered South Africa’s leading independent newspaper, the ‘Mail and Guardian’, to recall its entire print run of 45,000 to prevent the distribution of an article giving further details of the ‘Oilgate’ scandal. On May 27 the newspaper hit the streets with the word “Gagged” in large red letters across its front page. The ‘Oilgate’ revelations on page two had been blacked out. The ‘Mail and Guardian’ last week had printed an article - the first in a series - alleging that the South African oil company Imvume Management was used to channel rand 15 million (euros 1.8 million) from the state to the ruling African National Congress (ANC) to assist it in running its election campaign in April 2004. On May 26 2005, Imvume Management approached the Johannesburg High Court to prevent the publication of the follow-up article from going ahead, and the application was granted that evening. One of the reasons given by the Court for the gagging order was that the newspaper refused to reveal its confidential sources of information for the story, which Imvume claimed were obtained illegally. According to arguments made by the ‘Mail and Guardian’, the sources were verified through a second source. · ALERT Date: May 03, 2005 Persons/Institutions: Media in South Africa Violation: Threatened The South African government is showing increasing signs of intolerance towards any form of free expression following the announcement made by Minerals and Energy Minister Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka that the government may consider enacting legislation that would make it a criminal offence to “spread allegations or false rumours amounting to the incitement of panic”. The proposed legislation will be aimed at the media and “any organisation acting irresponsibly”. The government’s statements were made in response to a warning about of excessively high levels of radiation at Pelindaba nuclear facility outside Tshwane, made by the Non-Governmental Organisation Earthlife Africa. The government’s threats follow allegations by the government that Earthlife was spreading panic through making false statements about the existence of an illegal dumping site; President Thabo Mbeki also termed these statements ‘reckless’, ‘without foundation’ and ‘totally impermissible’. · ALERT Date: May 02, 2005 Persons/Institutions: South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) television journalists and a camera crew, Willie Mosoma Violation: Censored In the first week of May, provincial government officials barred South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) television journalists and a camera crew from entering the Limpopo provincial legislature to report on the Lebowakgomo government’s budget vote. They were allegedly thrown out after refusing to leave their cameras at the door. Two weeks earlier, Premier Sello Moloto’s political adviser Jack Mokobi reportedly stormed into the SABC offices in Polokwane to complain about the “harsh” manner in which politiSo This Is Democracy? 2005 -104- Media Institute of Southern Africa