The School of Journalism and Media Studies (JMS) of Rhodes University, in partnership with the Eastern Cape office of the South African National Editors’ Forum (SANEF) are hosting a webinar on Friday, October 18 to officially launch the Makhanda Declaration — a bold call to revitalize journalism in South Africa. 

The milestone event marking SA Media Freedom Day on October 19 is a historical commemoration of Black Wednesday in 1977 which saw the apartheid state’s banning and closing of the World and Sunday World and the imprisonment of several anti-apartheid journalists under the Internal Security Act. 

The Makhanda Declaration revisits the commitment and purpose of the Windhoek Declaration of 1991 which was crafted by African journalists and media professionals 33 years ago to promote the importance of journalism on the continent. 

The new declaration was drafted by journalists, academics and scholars to deliberate on current challenges facing South African communities of journalistic practice at a summit in Makhanda in April 2024. 

Jeanne Du Toit, head of the Journalism department at Rhodes University