This document is based on country reports for Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The country reports were commissioned by MISA. May 2024 EDITORIAL COMMITTEE: Reyhana Masters, Nqaba Matshazi, Kholwani Nyathi DESIGN AND LAYOUT: Garikai Tunhira UNESCO, International Media Support (IMS), The Sigrid Rausing Trust, Olof Palme Center and the Swedish Embassy, hereinafter referred to as “The Funding Partners” are pleased to support the State of Press Freedom Report for Southern Africa 2023 with limited financial assistance. However, since this report has been independently developed by MISA, therefore, the funding partners have no influence over the content. The authors will be responsible for the choice and the presentation of the facts contained in the paper and for the opinions expressed therein, which will not be necessarily those of the funding partners. The designations employed and the presentation of the material will not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the funding partners concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area, or of its authorities or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers and boundaries. CC-BY-SA licence Open Access COVER PHOTO: Daily Maverick journalist Lerato Mutsila is thrown out of the Standard Bank headquarters in Rosebank, Johannesburg, on 19 September 2023 PIC CREDIT: Kiara Affat STATE OF PRESS FREEDOM IN SOUTHERN AFRICA 2023 2