ANALYSIS OF COVID-19 REGULATIONS VIS-À-VIS FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION IN THE SADC REGION emphasised that in the Covid-19 crisis the media is an important national asset and necessity. For this significant role, the media is classified as an essential service.30 The media provides relevant information about the pandemic and essentially informs, enlightens, empowers and brings hope to citizens and stakeholders. In view of the proliferation of false news during the pandemic, quality journalism could also contribute to a reduction of misinformation and the negative impact of false news. The South African National Editors’ Forum (SANEF) welcomed the essential services status and noted that it is important that journalists are allowed to do their work without hindrance from the authorities.31 continued to face several challenges in carrying out their work. Some countries the media has been under siege and targeted. Deprose Muchena, “from Madagascar to Zambia, we have seen governments criminalising journalists and shutting down media outlets that are perceived to be calling out poor government responses to Covid19.”34 The safety of journalists is a human rights principle that is enshrined in international law. States have an obligation in terms of Principle 20 of the Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information in Africa to guarantee the safety of journalists and other media practitioners through adoption of “measures to prevent attacks on journalists and other media practitioners, including murder, extra-judicial killing, torture and other forms of ill-treatment, arbitrary arrest and detention, enforced disappearance, kidnapping, intimidation, threats and unlawful surveillance undertaken by State and non-State actors.”35 The following examples of the clampdown on the media during the pandemic are illustrative of how governments in the SADC region reneged on their human rights obligations of guaranteeing freedom of expression including the media freedom. Other SADC countries have also classified media as an ‘essential service’ in the wake of Covid19. Botswana also deemed the media as providing an ‘essential service’ during the lockdown and therefore allowed the movements of journalists to give them access to be on the frontline of reporting compliance of the Covid-19 measures instituted by the government. 32 In Namibia, although not classified as providing an essential service, the media was classified as providing a ‘critical service.33 Violence against the media Despite the classification of the media as providing as ‘essential’ service, journalists have 30 ‘Government on media reporting during Coronavirus COVID-19 lockdown period’ (2020) https://www.gov.za/speeches/governmentmedia-reporting-during-covid-19-lockdown-period-26-mar-2020-0000 (accessed 27 July 2020). 31 ‘Journalists ‘essential service’ amid Covid-19’ (2020) https://rekordeast.co.za/239230/journalists-essential-service-amid-covid- 19/ (accessed 27 March 2020). 32 M Galeragwe ‘Botswana: Media responsible for shaping our future’ (2020) https://allafrica.com/stories/202006230258.html (accessed 27 July 2020). 33 C Ngatjheue ‘Essential services explained’ (2020) https://www.namibian.com.na/199562/archive-read/Essential-services- explained (accessed 27 July 2020. 34 Amnesty International Director for East and Southern Africa; ibid 35 Declaration, principle 20. https://zimbabwe.misa.org 12