Botswana going Zim way - experts

He called on the press to reject the bill. He urged Botswana to come up with a Freedom of Information Act instead of the discredited bill that is due to be debated in Parliament at the November sitting. Louw was speaking at a one-day conference called by the Publishers Forum to discuss the bill with stakeholders. He said that the South African apartheid regime introduced the same kind of press control in the 1960s and the media fraternity in the country rejected it in favour of self-regulation.

He said that at the dawn of democracy in 1994, the council was reviewed and the Press Ombudsman was established to deal quickly and efficiently with complaints against the media in South Africa. He said that with their progressive and advanced media, they are able to fund the operations of the Press Council without government aid.