Media

Inspired by South African data protests, Namibian mobile operator Paratus has cut its data prices by a massive 80%.

The operator announced in a statement that it reduced the cost per gigabyte from N$85 (R85) to N$15 (R15).

"According to statistics from Research ICT Solutions (2018), Namibia rates 29th out of 52 African countries with regards to the cheapest 1 Gigabyte mobile prepaid rates per month for 2018 in USD, with a rate of US$7.35," the Paratus statement reads.

Breaking more than four days of silence, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg admitted mistakes and outlined steps to protect user data in light of a privacy scandal involving a Trump-connected data-mining firm.

Zuckerberg posted on his Facebook page on Wednesday that Facebook has a "responsibility" to protect its users' data.

"If we can't then we don't deserve to serve you," he wrote.

The minutes of a 2013 meeting between the SABC’s interim board and MultiChoice have shed more light on the controversial deal between the pay-TV broadcaster and the public broadcaster, raising heated concerns – especially about competition law – from both the Democratic Alliance and civil society groups Media Monitoring Africa and the SOS Coalition.

Parliament's ad hoc committee looking into the SABC board has agreed to finalise its draft report without any recommendations, until those implicated have been given a chance to respond.

Eight MPs voted against the inclusion of preliminary recommendations on Friday, with only two Democratic Alliance MPs voting for inclusion.

African National Congress MP Juli Kilian proposed on Thursday that the committee consider leaving out the recommendations until it had received a response from the SABC, to avoid potential litigation and claims of bias.

A group of activists under the banner Right2Know are staging a sit-in at the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) head office in Johannesburg.

The group took a decision to protest after the public broadcaster refused to allow four journalists to enter the offices.

The Right2Know Campaign says the journalists went to report for duty after the Labour Court ruled that their initial dismissal was unlawful.

The South African National Editors Forum (SANEF) has welcomed a Labour Court decision which effectively reinstates four South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) journalists who were dismissed for challenging editorial policy.

SANEF says the court decision affirms media freedom and sends a strong message that censorship has no place in a democracy.

SANEF’s Sam Mkokeli says, “SANEF welcomes the decision of the Labour Court. It's a very important decision and it sends a very strong message that censorship has no place in a democracy.”