EDITOR LOCKED OUT, ENAJ BLASTS EFA’S ‘SAMORA’

MBABANE – The Eswatini National Association of Journalists (ENAJ) is frowning upon the treatment of one of their own.

This comes after Eswatini Soccer Magazine Editor Mhlengi Shongwe was chucked out of a media briefing, which was held at Sigwaca House by Eswatini Football Association (EFA) President Peter ‘Samora’ Simelane, on allegations that he posted him on his official Facebook page. The post was published by the online soccer publication on April 27, 2023 with the caption “If you were afforded a 45-minute breakfast chat with the EFA President Peter ‘Samora’ Simelane, what’s that one question that you can ask him?” It is alleged that after the post, Simelane demanded that it should be deleted, but unfortunately Eswatini Soccer could not grant him his wish.  The president is alleged to have then resorted to visiting the Mbabane Police Station as he felt like the publication was cyberbullying and defaming him.

Shongwe was once again kicked out of the national team Sihlangu media day, which was held at the Lobamba Technical Centre on Wednesday. The editor was seen negotiating with EFA’s Head of Security Malinga to cover the event, but his efforts were in vain.ENAJ President Welcome ‘Wex’ Dlamini, when contactwd to share his views on the treatment of the journalist, said as an association they frowned upon such conduct by EFA as he labelled it as blatant disregard for press freedom.“This seems to confirm the dictatorial posture that the EFA appears to have assumed of late. The office of the EFA president is a public one and, as such, has to be subjected to public scrutiny,” the ENAJ president said.

Revealed

Dlamini revealed that what Shongwe did was to provide a platform for the public to suggest questions they needed to be answered by the president, which according to him, should be welcomed by any official, who was supposed to be accountable.“Clearly, what EFA is doing sends a message that it doesn’t want to be scrutinised or questioned. Unfortunately, such belief is a fallacy because the role of journalists is exactly that - to hold those in power accountable and the EFA president is no exception,” he said.The ENAJ president finally urged all sports journalists to unite behind the Eswatini Soccer Magazine editor and walk out of upcoming EFA events where he or any journalist for that matter was kicked or locked out.
Meanwhile, EFA Marketing and Communications Officer Muzi ‘Rhoo’ Radebe could not be reached for comment as his phone was not available on the network by the time this report was compiled.

Post your comment

Your name:

Your e-mail address:

Add your comments:

Please enter the code you see in the image:

Image:

Code: