The report, titled ‘Zimbabwean Elections: Rumour and Speculation' and compiled by Sandra Roberts and Wennie van Riet, says SA media has done well under the circumstances and with little information to give a fair view of what was going on.
“The job of foreign media is to report on what is going on in other countries' elections and whether the process is fair and give updates prior and after the elections. However there is role for SA media reporting on Zimbabwe elections to fulfil many of the roles normally done by local media as many Zimbabweans live and work in SA,” the reports states.
It is estimated that there are three million Zimbabweans currently living in SA but with the wave of xenophobic attacks taking place here, there is a possibility that the number may decrease as many have opted to return home.
The report includes the summary of articles and news bulletins monitored from Beeld, City Press, Daily Sun, Mail & Guardian, Saturday Star, Sowetan, Sunday Times, The Citizen, The Star, The Times, The Weekender, e.tv and SABC3.
Zimbabwean authorities banned e.tv from entering the country, so its reporters were operating from Beit Bridge border town, mostly relying on information from mysterious but reliable insiders.
Main themes monitored included before and after the elections, free and fair elections, campaign elections, future of Zimbabwe and Zimbabweans living in SA.
“The South African media in their coverage of Zimbabwe elections have, prior to the elections, focused whether the elections were going to be free and fair. There was a lot of speculation whether the Zanu-PF would try to rig the elections,” the report says.
“After the elections the focus shifted to speculation on the results of the elections, for example when and if the results will eventually be announced and whether there was going to be a run-off between Mugabe (Zanu-PF) and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai (MDC).”
However, the ruling Zanu-PF accused SA journalists of being biased against it, saying they spread lies to discredit the government.
The MMP report said that in a country where truth is hard to find and freedom of expression is non-existent, it has been a tough challenge for SA media to source and access so few of the ruling party politicians and supporters, and therefore it may be criticised as biased.
“Overall, it seemed that SA media was critical of the ruling Zanu-PF. This comes forward for instance, in the lack of ordinary citizens favouring the opposition. This may give the impression that Zanu-PF supporters could not be found.
“However, considering the media environment in Zimbabwe, this is not surprising. SA media seemed to be justified in being critical of Mugabe government, considering the suffering of people and human rights abuses. In this case, SA media seems to be promoting democracy and human rights,” the report concludes.
For more information, go to www.mediamonitoring.org.za.
