Swaziland
a Fair Competition Act, this policy statement is yet to be realised.
A competition bill has been piloted under the Ministry of Enterprise
and Employment.
SCORES:
Individual scores:

2, 1, 1, 1, 1, 2, 1, 1

Average score:

1.3

2.9

(2005=1.3)

Government promotes a political and economic
environment which allows for a diverse media landscape.

ANALYSIS:
The adoption of the Constitution and the Information and Media
Policy indicates that government is attempting to open up the media landscape. But existing legislation still inhibits media diversity.
The STVA Act 1983, for example, confers power on the operator of
Swazi TV, the Swaziland Television Authority (STVA), to regulate the
television industry. Similarly, the radio sector is extremely uncompetitive since the dominant player, government, also governs licensing and frequency distribution through the parastatal, the SPTC.
The Books and Newspapers Act 1963 is still in place, making it prohibitively expensive for new players to enter the print industry. The
Act stipulates that a cash bond of E15,000 must be paid to the Registrar of Books and Newspapers to establish a newspaper. An amendment to the Act has been drafted, but it does not remove or even
reduce the cash bond.
There are no practical efforts, such as tax incentives for media operators, to encourage media diversity. In fact, the general environment is becoming even more regulated and restrictive: “They are
20

African Media Barometer - Swaziland 2007

Select target paragraph3