Africa Report<\/a>, Martin Plaut, Senior Research Fellow at the University of London\u2019s Institute of Commonwealth Studies and former BBC Africa Editor, illuminated the critical role of press freedom in safeguarding democracy\u2014particularly in South Africa.<\/p>\n\u201c[It is] one of the most positive things that exists in South Africa. It is your great bastion against\u2026 corruption and government action against ordinary civilians,\u201d Plaut asserted, spotlighting the strength of South Africa\u2019s journalistic environment.<\/p>\n
Plaut drew a stark contrast between South Africa\u2019s relatively free press and the suffocating environments in some other African nations. He cited a recent News24 investigation into a 1,2 billion-rand procurement scandal, now subject to official scrutiny, as emblematic of media\u2019s watchdog function. Journalists publish such expos\u00e9s without fear of lethal retribution.<\/p>\n
He contrasted this with repression in places like Rwanda or Eritrea: in Rwanda, \u201cattack the president, you’re dead,\u201d and in Eritrea, dissenters may be concealed in shipping containers in searing heat until they die.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor example, Stephen Grootes can say \u2018the liar Melusi Gigaba was able to reinvent himself\u2019 against a senior ANC MP\u2014without being, shall we say, killed,\u201d Plaut remarked, underlining the leeway allowed for political criticism.<\/p>\n
These observations reflect broader metrics: South Africa currently ranks 27th out of 180 countries on the 2025 World Press Freedom Index, improving from 38th in 2024, signalling a resilient media environment susceptible to threats but largely independent.<\/p>\n
Still, challenges persist. Recent reports cite at least 59 physical or verbal attack incidents on journalists in the last five years, along with surveillance, misogynistic online harassment\u2014especially of women reporters\u2014and legislative attempts to curtail media freedom.<\/p>\n
When asked about the power of kindness in war-torn settings, Plaut recounted his extensive field experience.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust go to ordinary people, in villages, in the countryside\u2026 they will give you the last chicken they have to keep you alive.\u201d He emphasised how local knowledge\u2014like subtle symbols warning of minefields\u2014can save lives.<\/p>\n
He also drew attention to an unexpected fact. \u201cDo you know that the most mined country in the world is Egypt? All the mines left there from the Second World War\u2026\u201d highlighting long-term threats even from historical conflicts.<\/p>\n
Shifting tone to culture, Plaut shared an uplifting trend: Nigeria and Ghanaian designers are now supplying prom dresses in the US\u2014beautiful, sequined Yoruba designs priced at $600\u2013$1 000, substantially cheaper than comparable American options. One Nigerian designer reportedly handled 2 800 orders for a single season\u2014a testament to Africa\u2019s creative export potential.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m very pleased to do [this],\u201d he said of his participation\u2014and humorously added, \u201cif I go over a certain point, I hope you take me off air. But that\u2019s your choice. It\u2019s not the government\u2019s choice.\u201d In this, he encapsulated the essence of media liberty in a functioning democracy.<\/p>\n
Watch<\/strong>\u00a0the Africa Report<\/a> on Sabaahul Muslim with Moulana Sulaimaan Ravat.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"26 August 2025 | 10:10 CAT 2-minute read SA\u2019s Media: A Beacon of Press Freedom Amid Global Repression In an interview on Radio Islam International\u2019s Africa Report, Martin Plaut, Senior Research Fellow at the University of London\u2019s Institute of Commonwealth Studies and former BBC Africa Editor, illuminated the critical role of press freedom in safeguarding […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":97103,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4996,28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-100079","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-africa","category-latest-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/The-Africa-Report-October-2024.png?fit=2268%2C2268&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pc0QIf-q2b","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-17 01:17:17","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100079","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=100079"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100079\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/97103"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100079"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=100079"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=100079"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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