In the wake of these allegations, MISA Swaziland asked the Swaziland Editors’ Forum (SEF) to investigate the damaging allegations published by one of their members. SEF promised to do so, but later reported that their efforts were futile because the member refused to cooperate. Quoted in the Sunday Observer, 17 December 2017, the SEF Secretary, Jabu Matsebula said: “As members of the Forum, we are concerned that some of the articles published in Swaziland Shopping failed to meet our ethics standards”. Swazis enjoyed their right to free speech on this day. They openly criticised media capture by the state and powerful individuals. Things came to a head when the same managing editor, perhaps due to poor understanding of media law and the Section 24 (3) of the Swazi Constitution, implicated the same businessman in a plot to kill the king. The ICT ministry then jumped into action and used the newspaper’s failure to comply with the Books and Newspapers Act of 1963 to shut down his newspaper. As an interested party, MISA Swaziland requested an audience with him to cross-check the facts, which he deemed unnecessary. On the heels of this, police in turn 102 So This is Democracy? 2017 wanted to question him about the alleged plot to kill the king, but as the net was closing, he skipped the country to South Africa. BROADCASTING Cognisant of the absence of a clearly defined Swaziland Broadcasting and Media Policy, the Ministry of ICT’s Information and Media Development Unit set out to find a solution. Its first step was to organise a three-day Swaziland Broadcasting and Media Policy Indaba. Swaziland tapped into experiences of the South African regulatory media and film bodies such as Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA), South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) and others. At the end of the three-day conference, Acting Principal Secretary in the ICT Ministry requested the participants to elect “knowledgeable” members to the Swaziland Broadcasting and Media Policy Technical Committee. In the runup to the 2018 elections, MISA Swaziland hosted a workshop for the community radio initiators. It introduced the Guidelines on Media Coverage of Elections in the SADC Region. Members of the SCMN participated in the workshop. They included the University of Swaziland, Lubombo Community, Ngwempisi Community, Matsanjeni South Community, Sidvwashini Community and Seventh Day Adventist Community. MISA Swaziland reminded them to celebrate international media days such as World Radio Day, WPFD, International Day on Universal Access to Information, and the Day to End Impunity Against Journalists. The workshop promised to celebrate World Radio Day on 13 February 2018 and they adopted the Guidelines,making a promise to abide by them in the coming elections.