SECTOR 2 The privately owned weekly Ingwazi News is no longer published, and neither is Vuka Ngwane, a siSwati weekly. Currently there are no siSwati publications in Swaziland. “This is a problem as it affects people’s accessibility to news and information. The laws of Swaziland are also not published in the vernacular.” Another panellist felt that there “is no support for siSwati publications because there is a perception that readers of siSwati publications are not considered literate or sophisticated”. As a result, it is not considered economical to produce publications in the local vernacular. The literacy rate in Swaziland is considered to be generally high. The Nation is a privately owned monthly publication, with a print run of 3000. Broadcasting Radio is very popular and the major source of information for citizens. There are only two Swazi radio stations, the government-run Swaziland Broadcasting and Information Services (SBIS) with its very popular news broadcasts, and a private Christian station, Voice of the Church (VOC), which is owned by TransWorld Radio. SBIS, which has two channels - SBIS 1 (siSwati) and SBIS 2 (English) - reaches an estimated 98 percent of the country. The state recently installed new transmitters, which have improved the problematic, patchy signals along the borders with South Africa. VOC covers about 75 percent of the country. “Swazis tend to listen to South African radio stations, like Jacaranda, because they are better sources of general information.” The government, through the former regulator, the SPTC, indicated that it would open the airwaves to commercial and community radio stations, but no licences have yet been issued. (see indicator 3.1 for further discussion on this) The government has not provided any reason for the delay, although applications for four community radio station have been submitted. In July 2013, the Community Radio Network (CRN) was established to lobby for community radio stations in the country. Its members include representatives of the existing Voice of the Church (VOC) as well as the following stations which would like to be established: Lubombo, Matsanjeni, Ngwempisi, the Council of Churches and the University of Swaziland Television is considered a luxury in Swaziland and is more prevalent in urban areas. Panellists were unsure of the reach of the two local television stations - the statecontrolled Swazi TV and the privately owned Channel Swazi. People living on the periphery of the country struggle to access local terrestrial signals and more often tune into South African free-to-air stations, SABC 1, 2 and 3 and e-tv. AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER Swaziland 2014 31