Daily News battles in court

MIC chairman Dr Tafataona Mahoso confirmed that the ANZ filed its application yesterday afternoon. He said a copy of the ANZ application was served to their office just before the close of business yesterday.

In its application, Dr Mahoso said, ANZ was seeking the court to overturn the commission's decision not to register them as a media service provider. The ANZ was claiming that the commission was completely biased, arguing the decision it took in not granting them a licence was not arrived at on factual basis. In An interview with the Herald Mahoso dismissed the ANZ allegations as frivolous and vexatious.

On Monday, September 22, ANZ director of corporate affairs Gugulethu Moyo was quoted in a Media Institute of Southern Africa-Zimbabwe publication as saying they would argue at the Administrative Court that the MIC was improperly constituted as no associations of media houses and journalists were consulted when it was appointed. According to the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act, associations of media houses and journalists nominate three people to sit in the MIC, she said.

In a related development the Zimbabwe chapter of the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA-Zimbabwe) yesterday filed an application at the High Court challenging certain sections of AIPPA. The director of the Civil Division in the Attorney General's Office, Loyce Matanda-Moyo, confirmed that MISA-Zimbabwe lodged the application.

Matanda-Moyo said MISA-Zimbabwe was claiming that it was not covered under AIPPA and was therefore not compelled to register with MIC. However, Dr Mahoso described the court action by MISA-Zimbabwe as hostile. "MISA has taken a hostile move. What they should do is simply to apply for registration and apologise for the delay," said Dr Mahoso.

He said the commission was not hostile to MISA-Zimbabwe but the media house was placing hostility upon the MIC through its activities, which he said only helped to antagonise people who were trying to treat them as a neutral entity.

MISA Zimbabwe is a non-governmental organisation and is one of 10 country offices of the regional MISA organisation. MISA is member-driven network of national chapters, co-ordinated by a professional regional secretariat which seeks - through monitoring, training, capacity-building, research and the distribution of information - to foster free, independent and diverse media throughout Southern Africa in the service of democracy and development. The organisation was formed and created by southern African journalists in late 1992.

In MISA-Zimbabwe's application to the High Court it requested a Declarator, thereby asking the High Court to determine whether it is a mass media house and if it qualifies for registration with the MIC.