WAY FORWARD The way forward 1. What were the developments in the media environment in the last two/three years? Positive developments • The initiation of monthly breakfast meetings hosted by the Editors Forum, bringing together the country’s editors and senior politicians. • The establishment of the Media Complaints Commission (MCC), although greater publicity is needed for it to function more effectively. • The training of journalists through the four-year degree programme at the University of Swaziland. • The enactment of the Swaziland Communication Commission Act. • The increased access and use of the internet and social media. • The establishment of the Community Radio Network (CRN) in 2013. Negative developments • The arrests of The Nation editor Bheki Makhubu and lawyer Thulani Maseko2. • The inactivity of the Swaziland National Association of Journalists (SNAJ). • The stalled process of legislative reform, with a variety of media laws still in the draft stage (including the Swaziland Public Broadcasting Corporation Bill, the more general Swaziland Broadcasting Bill, the Books and Newspapers (Amendment) Bill, the National Film Bill and the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Bill). • The removal of government scholarships for journalism students at the University of Swaziland. 2. What kinds of activities are needed over the next years? • 2 MCC: Greater publicity and awareness about this self-regulatory media complaints body is needed among journalists and the public in general. Buy-in from media houses is essential, especially from editors. The danger of not having a functioning self-regulatory body is that the state will fulfil its threat of launching a statutory body to the further detriment of freedom of expression in Swaziland. Since conducting the AMB Swaziland 2014, the editor of The Nation magazine Bheki Makhubu and human rights lawyer Thulani Maseko were sentenced to two years in prison, without the option of a fine. The sentenced was handed down by Judge Mpendulo Simelane in the Mbabane High Court in Swaziland on 25 July 2014, and follows Makhubu and Maseko’s convictions on contempt of court charges on 17 July 2014, for separate news articles that each wrote criticising the kingdom’s chief justice, Michael Ramodibedi, and published in the independent news magazine, The Nation. The Nation and Independent Publishers were each fined R50,000. AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER Swaziland 2014 67