SABC blocks Zimbabwe site
RAYMOND LOUW
THE SABC has allegedly blocked computer access in its newsroom to a website for a leading Independent radio
station that focuses on Zimbabwe.
The revelation comes just months after the SABC's 'blacklisting"' of political commentators and analysts.
SABC journalists who tried to access
www.swradioafrica.com, the website of London·based radio station SW Radio Africa, said an error message appeared on their screens stating: -SURF CONTROL: Access Denied. Access to the requested URL has been denied by
SABC pollcy."
The discovery was made by Tererai Karimakwenda of AfricaFiles, a network in Toronto, Canada, that relays news about Africa. Karimakwenda said several journalists and an editor at the SABC had tried to access the website on April 20, but were blocked.
"We then contacted the head of television news, Amrit Manga, and be told us he was not aware of the policy
because he does not know SW Radio Africa and had never visited the site" AfricaFiles said.
This week the Sunday Times asked another journalist at the SABC to access the site and the same response was
received.
SABC spokesman Kaizer Kganyago said yesterday the SABC would not deliberately block access to any website about Zimbabwe.
But he added that staff were prevented from accessing streaming audio or video files to curb Internet costs and
the "radio station's website opens with streaming of a video on their home page, and therefore our system automatically blocks it".
SW Radio Africa said its Internet home page did not open with a streaming video.
