IFEX - News from the international freedom of expression community
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PRESS RELEASE/ALERT - SOUTH AFRICA

9 July 2004

FXI condemns police barring of media from conflict zone

SOURCE: Freedom of Expression Institute (FXI), Johannesburg

(FXI/IFEX) - The following is an 8 July 2004 FXI statement:

FXI condemns police barring of media from Diepsloot

The Freedom of Expression Institute (FXI) has signalled its outrage at
police action in Diepsloot on 7 July 2004, when, for a period of three
hours, media were barred from covering the ongoing conflict between the
residents of the area and state authorities. Police threatened to arrest any
journalist who entered the area.

Diepsloot is an informal settlement, located a few kilometres outside of
Johannesburg in Gauteng Province. Since 5 July 2004, Diepsloot has been
rocked by violent confrontations between its residents and the police, amid
allegations that the residents will be relocated to Brits, a rural area in
the country's North West Province.

In barring the media, police allegedly invoked the provisions of section
13(11) of the South African Police Services Act (No. 68 of 1995), which
empowers members of the police force to declare an area a crime scene and
cordon it off for purposes of carrying out investigations. This particular
section stipulates that:

- 13(11)(a) A member may, for the purposes of investigating any offence or
alleged offence, cordon off the scene of such offence or alleged offence and
any adjacent area which is reasonable in the circumstances to cordon off in
order to conduct an effective investigation at the scene of the offence or
alleged offence.

- (b) A member may, where it is reasonable in the circumstances in order to
conduct such investigation, prevent any person from entering or leaving an
area so cordoned off.

FXI argued that it is essential to understand that section 13(11) as a whole
permits the cordoning off of crime scenes for purposes of "investigation"
only and not merely as an operational requirement. As it were, when media
was barred entry, the police were not engaged in investigating a crime or
crimes in Diepsloot but, on the contrary, were trying to contain the violent
protests that have been witnessed there since the beginning of the week. The
organisation stated that public order policing is an operational rather than
an investigative activity.

FXI said it found it particularly disturbing that police are once again
resorting to some of the insidious tactics much favoured during the
apartheid era and especially during the successive spate of state
emergencies, when police declared whole townships and villages "unrest
areas" and sealed them off from the media. Gross atrocities and the
pervasive violation of fundamental rights (such as killings, torture,
beatings and demolition of houses) then occurred behind this darkened
window, inside the exclusionary zones. FXI said it shuddered to think that
South Africa's modern day democratic police force is once again betraying
trappings of its shameful past.

"The excuse given by the police that media was barred from Diepsloot for its
own safety, and that the presence of media was fuelling further violence is
a shoddy and laughable attempt at whitewashing a clearly unconstitutional
and illogical directive," the organisation said in a press statement.

Furthermore, FXI said it found it disconcerting that police decided to
embark on a selective and opportunistic interpretation of section 13(11) in
regards to Diepsloot, whereas the same police force and certain of its other
organs, such as the specialised crime investigating unit (popularly known as
"the Scorpions"), usually have no qualms in inviting media to cover their
"Hollywood style" sting operations and crime blitzes. FXI wondered whether
media is invited to the latter category of scenes in order to merely help
boost the image of the police force.

The organisation noted that the media's obligation to gather and report news
as it breaks needed no elaboration. In actual fact, FXI argued, South
Africa's Constitutional Court has observed that media has a:
"'constitutional mandate' to inform and educate the public, and that the
ability of citizens to be effective and responsible members of our society
depends to a large extent on the way media executes this constitutional
responsibility. By barring media from covering the on-going conflict between
the residents of Diepsloot and the state, police unjustifiably denied media
its right to receive and impart information as guaranteed by the
Constitution, besides pouring scorn on the hallowed reasoning of the
Constitutional Court."

FXI called for a substantive statement to be issued by the National Police
Commissioner, distancing his office from the police action in Diepsloot and
clarifying the particular circumstances under which section 13(11) of the
Police Services Act is to be invoked. The organisation also stated that the
National Police Commissioner must bear in mind that the cordoning off of
crime areas must be "reasonable" as stipulated in this section of the act.
For that reason, media, as a guardian of society's interests, must as far a
possible be given reasonable access to crime and operational areas.

For further information, contact Simon Kimani Ndungu, FXI at P.O. Box 30668,
Braamfontein, 2017, Johannesburg (Street Address: 21st floor, Sable Centre,
41 De Korte Street, Braamfontein, 2001, Johannesburg), South Africa, tel:
+27 83 733 2675, 11 403 8403/4, fax: +27 11 403 8309, e-mail:
[email protected] [2], Internet: http://fxi.org.za [3]

The information contained in this press release/alert is the sole
responsibility of FXI. In citing this material for broadcast or publication,
please credit FXI.
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