M MISA’s appropriately selected theme for 2017 – ‘lights out on democracy’ – provides an ideal framework to interrogate the democratic project in southern Africa. A closer look reveals an environment for media and citizenry that is highly volatile, hotly contested and often under pressure. A landscape where the insidious and subtle erosion of free speech rights is compounded both by the media’s struggle for economic survival and its relevance to citizens who all too easily disown their media and the critical role it plays in keeping power to account. Tanzania and Zambia stand out as democracies gone amok. The Zambian political and social landscape was peppered with incidents ranging from the death of a student from Copperbelt University who was injured by police during a protest, to the bombing of a privately-owned media house in Lusaka and the declaration of a state of emergency following a spate of arson attacks on public installations. President John Magufuli’s crack down on all criticism and dissent is both subtle and overt and weighted against popular political and economic reforms. This makes it difficult for advocates to navigate the terrain of harnessing support to fight for fundamental rights when Magufuli’s fiscal policy decisions reflect the strengthening of an economic sector. Citizens and stakeholders overlook infringements on freedom of expression and media freedoms. His shrewd skill in crafting law under the guise of regulation is in fact constricting the space for 10 So This is Democracy? 2017 opinions and in essence is creating a police state. Opposition politicians and journalists including the exiled Ansbert Ngurumo and the still-missing Azory Gwanda are on a growing list of the dead, disappeared and detained. Across several borders in Zimbabwe, a major political shift with the removal of former President Mugabe in a November 2017 ‘intervention’ by Zimbabwe’s defence forces has so emboldened security forces - not only in Zimbabwe – that there is a legitimate concern for the abuse of power or lack of accountability on the part of the security forces. Supposed actions in the public interest or national security increasingly appear to be motivated by personal gain and consolidation of power in the securocrat. FREE EXPRESSION ONLINE The inclination by African governments to shut down the internet or suspend social media sites and messaging apps continued in 2017. Whilst fewer internet shutdowns were recorded in 2017 as compared to 2016 (twelve instances of intentional internet or mobile network disruptions in nine countries in 2017, compared to eleven in 2016 ), Quartz Africa suggests that in 2017 governments either did so more frequently or over longer periods of time. Internet shutdowns impede human rights such as freedom of expression and assembly, access to information and political rights. They also come at a huge cost to African economies. It is estimated that these digital interruptions came at a cost of nearly US Dollar 11 million last year. Breaches to internet freedom thrive and flourish when there is no coordinated citizen and active society response. Digital rights activists warn that full-blown