In an interview with Mmegi yesterday, Ndlovu dismissed the Bill as an attempt to curtail media freedom in the country. "This Bill is not friendly to the media at all particularly when one looks at the issue of registration and accreditation. You have to remember that the media is covered by the right to freedom of expression in the Constitution," he explained. He added that journalists cannot be expected to exist under the same rules as other professions. "First, journalism serves a special role in any democratic system and that is why a free media is seen to be central to a successful democracy. The practice around the world and in the region is to let the media be self-regulating. You cannot put the media under any particular institution because everyone and every institution has an inherent interest in controlling the media," he said.
He is shocked to see the current draft which he said is devoid of the media fraternity's input. This is despite the fact that the government had done extensive consultations to get the media's views. However he said he is not really surprised by the Bill because during its development, there was no further consultations. "You would have thought the consultations could have gone on until some sort of draft was developed but the minister went ahead, ignoring our initial input and brought something like this" he said.
