SECTOR 1 The above mentioned Declaration, for example, states that “any authority that exercises powers in the areas of broadcast or telecommunications regulation should be independent and adequately protected against interference, particularly of a political or economic nature”. And a Declaration on Information and Communication Technology, adopted by SADC in 2001, provides expressly for “independent regulators”. Yet, a Bill drafted by the Department of Communications to amend the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa Act aims in effect to bring the regulator under the control of government. The same goes for a Draft Public Service Broadcasting Bill which would give the Minister of Communications considerable control over the South African Broadcasting Corporation despite the clause in the Declaration that public broadcasters should be “accountable to the public through the legislature rather than the government”. Scores: Individual scores: 1 Country does not meet indicator 2 Country meets only a few aspects of indicator 3 Country meets some aspects of indicator 4 Country meets most aspects of indicator. 5 Country meets all aspects of the indicator Average score: 2.9 (2008 = n/a; 2006 = n/a) 1.5 Print publications are not required to obtain permission to publish from state authorities. There are no state-imposed conditions or pre-requisites for print publications to publish. Newspapers can start up anywhere at any time. 16 AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER SOUTH AFRICA 2010