A man tills the land following showers of rain in Chabwino near Shamva, about 50 kilometres north-east of Harare, Zimbabwe. (CREDIT: Aaron Ufumeli) Nonetheless, Mauritius is one of the countries that gives prominence to environmental issues and the enactment of the Climate Change Act of 2021 illustrates how “the government of Mauritius has dedicated considerable attention to ensure environmental protection, embracing important sectoral reforms and implementing budgetary measures”. (10) “Amidst the numerous contentious clauses, the most worrisome aspect of the law is that it establishes a very secretive and non-transparent framework favouring commercial interests over those of the general public.” This is the same problem in resource-rich countries like South Africa, Namibia and Mozambique. That attentiveness is fluctuating. Governments are not prioritising natural resource management nor are they putting communities at the heart of the bread and butter environmental issues. In 2021, Member of Parliament Reza Uteem raised concerns on why the 2021 Offshore Petroleum Bill, which allows for seabed exploration, was being rushed through Parliament when it was read for the third time. Instead, policies and practice of business even in the highly polemic extractive sector, are corporate friendly and community hostile. (11) A correspondent for The Jurist, preferring to remain anonymous for privacy and security reasons, outlined the anomalies contained in the legislation. (12) STATE OF PRESS FREEDOM IN SOUTHERN AFRICA 2023 It is in these situations that the nexus between the importance of public interest journalism, freedom of expression and reporting on the 16