SECTOR 1 1.5 Print publications are not required to obtain permission to publish from state authorities There are no laws in South Africa that require print publications to obtain permission to publish from state authorities. 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: ✓✓✓✓✓✓✓✓✓✓✓✓ 5.0 (2013: 5.0; 2010: 4.9; 2008: n/a; 2006: n/a) 1.6 Confidential sources of information are protected by law and/or the courts On paper there is some level of protection guaranteed to whistle-blowers, however, there is no law that specifically protects journalists’ confidential sources of information. The so-called ‘Whistleblowing Act’ (the Protected Disclosures Act of 2000) in theory protects whistle-blowers who have reported unlawful or irregular conduct on the part of their employers or fellow employees, although panellists felt that the existence of the Regulation of Interception of Communications and Provision of Communication Related Information Act of 2002 (RICA) was a concern as it granted legal permission for communication interception and surveillance in certain circumstances. RICA governs the interception or monitoring of paper-based and electronic communications. Despite the existence of the Protected Disclosures Act, panellists noted that whistle-blowers ‘still lose their jobs’. ‘RICA doesn’t take into account the confidentiality of sources of information, so can be used as an avenue by the state to interfere in the gathering of information by journalists.’ In addition, Section 205 of the Criminal Procedure Act – a relic of the apartheidera – still exists on the statute books and can be used by a judge or magistrate to subpoena anyone, journalists included, to provide information in relation to an alleged offence: failing which they can be imprisoned. This is a direct threat to the right to freedom of expression and freedom of the media in terms of protection of sources. 15 AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER SOUTH AFRICA 2018