ANALYSIS OF COVID-19 REGULATIONS VIS-À-VIS FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION IN THE SADC REGION Introduction the numerous media freedom violations that have been witnessed in the SADC region since governments started their response efforts. 3 As responses to the pandemic are initiated and modified it is important to restate the significance of freedom of expression in a health crisis. It is true that being an extra-ordinary phenomenon, COVID-19 requires extra-ordinary measures aimed at securing people’s health and safety.4 The Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), which was declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO), is caused by a novel strain of coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2. The COVID19 pandemic is an unprecedented crisis that has seen various governments across the globe resort to various forms of crisis management measures to contain the spread of the virus. Governments have adopted measures such as lockdowns and curfews. In the SADC region, different measures have been adopted to respond to COVID-19. Some member states have declared states of emergency or states of national disaster. Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique and Namibia declared COVID- 19 as a state of emergency while Zimbabwe and South Africa declared the pandemic as a state of national disaster. These proclamations were accompanied by an assortment of regulations whose scope impinge on civil and political rights. Equally important in confronting the pandemic is the right of access to information which requires vigilance in proactive disclosure of credible COVID-19 information and also serves as an antidote to disinformation. Although what is at stake currently is the preservation of life through protection of public health, the nature, extent and longevity of the crisis management measures that impact on freedom of expression and access to information is worth reflecting on. The measures should be proportionate to the demands of the crisis whilst respecting democratic governance, protecting fundamental human rights and adhering to the rule of law.5States can limit freedom of expression to protect public health but some of the restrictions that have been instigated in the SADC region are “unnecessary or disproportionate”.6 Even in time of crisis, human rights have to be protected as rights such as freedom of expression play a vital role in the face of a deadly global pandemic. Freedom of expression contributes to access COVID-19 is not only a public health crisis. It has implications for the practice of democracy and human rights. The measures to protect public health impact on democracy in exceptional ways. Former United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression, David Daye, noted that COVID-19 is an “intense global challenge to health and to the foundations of a democratic society.”2 A relevant representation of this, would be 2 D Kaye ‘Disease pandemics and the freedom of opinion and expression’ https://undocs.org/A/HRC/44/49 (accessed 10 June 2020). 3 As above. 4 A Game ‘Keeping our eyes on the ball: Human rights in the time of COVID-19’ 7 April 2020 https://ifex.org/keeping-our-eyes- onthe-ball-human-rights-in-the-time-of-covid-19/ (accessed 10 June 2020). 5 ‘Mitigating a global health crisis while maintaining freedom of expression and information’ https://rm.coe.int/en-mitigating-aglobal-health-crisis-while-maintaining-freedom-of-expr/16809e2d1e (accessed 10 June 2020). 6 https://ijnet.org/en/story/key-quotes-media-freedom-threats-and-covid-19-un-special-rapporteur-david-kaye-and-cpj’s (accessed 10 June 2020). https://zimbabwe.misa.org 7