Basildon Peta

Basildon Peta
Born c. 1970
Nationality Zimbabwean
Occupation Journalist and publisher
Employer formerly with the Daily Gazette, Financial Gazette, The Independent (UK), New Zealand Herald
Organization Africa Media Holdings
Known for his tough reporting under difficult political circumstances, his voice as an exiled Zimbabwean journalist and his founding of a media company that publishes some of Lesotho's main newspaper publications.
Home town Chitungwiza (a.k.a. "Chi Town), Zimbabwe
Spouse(s) single
Children 6
Awards MISA Press Freedom Award (1994)

Basildon Peta (c. 1972 – ) was the second journalist ever to be awarded the Media Institute of Southern Africa's Press Freedom Award for his reporting in Zimbabwe.[1] In his homeland, Peta was persecuted and he fled for his life after receiving threats from the Robert Mugabe regime in 2001 and incurring a brief detainment in Harare before the April 2002 elections. Since his exile in February 2002 to South Africa, Peta has reported for newspapers in the United Kingdom and New Zealand. He currently writes editorials and is the owner of a newspaper publishing company in Maseru, Lesotho.

Personal

He grew up in Chitungwiza, which is commonly referred to as "Chi Town."[2] Peta is married and the father of two children.[3]

Career

Harare
Johannesburg
Maseru
Mentioned locations relative to Lesotho.

As a result of reporting in Zimbabwe's Daily Gazette about tax evasion by Zimbabwe bureaucrats, Basildon Peta was held for 7 days in 1994 by authorities under the Official Secrets Act. For his refusal to give up his principles, modify his reporting or reveal his sources, Peta at 24 years old was awarded the second Press Freedom Award by the Media Institute of Southern Africa.[3][4]

He also has worked for the Zimbabwe Independent.[3]

Peta was the Secretary General of the Zimbabwe Union of Journalists and had contact with the government in its attempt to draft a new constitution, but the results were not favourable and the ZUJ planned to challenge them.[5]

Later, after his reporting about the white-black land wars were published, a Mugabe's spokesperson labelled Peta a "terrorist" in 2001.[3] Ahead elections in Zimbabwe in the next year, Peta was one of seven journalists on a hit list by Mugabe's Central Intelligence Organization. Peta said he also received a threat in the form of a manila envelope full of bullets. He published an article in The Independent afterwards in which he remained defiant and wrote that he will continue "to tell the truth".[2][3][6][7] He was detained again in February 2002 under Zimbabwe's newly enacted Public Order and Security Act for 15 hours. Peta was the first journalist arrested after the strict law had been passed.[8][9][10] He left the Zimbabwe for South Africa shortly after his detention amid allegations that he had lied about his detention.[11] At the time, he reported for Zimbabwe's Financial Gazette and The Independent (UK), for which he began to work around 2000.[5] From exile, Peta said he and his family had suffered for two years.[12] In 2005, the ZANU-PF party issued a list of traitors that included Basildon Peta's name.[13] After fleeing to South Africa in 2002, Peta returned to Zimbabwe in 2010 and wrote about his reactions.[2]

He is currently the CEO of Africa Media Holdings, which is the publishing company behind the Lesotho Times. The newspaper is a weekly published since 2008. In 2009, the company began publishing the Sunday Express every weekend.[14] These two newspapers are the main publications in Lesotho and are also distributed to a large Basotho audience in South Africa.[15] The masthead of the Lesotho Times reads: "News without fear or favour."[16]

His editor for the two papers Darlington Majonga left in 2011 to establish another English-language newspaper called the Free State Times with regional coverage.[17]

Lawsuits

When Basildon Peta worked for Modus Publications and wrote for Financial Gazette, Christopher Mushowe, principal director in Robert Mugabe's office, attempted to sue him for implicating him in corruption. Mushowe was a member Mugabe's party, Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front. The article that Peta wrote was about whether Mushowe deserved a passing grade from the University of Zimbabwe. The lawsuit against Peta failed.[18][19][20]

Awards

Notable works of journalism

Basidon Peta's reporting occurred in three separate periods. From 1990s–2002, he reported in Zimbabwe. After his 2002 exile to South Africa, he reported from Johannesburg. In 2008, he started publishing newspapers in Maseru, Lesotho.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "MISA Press Freedom Award: Previous winners". Media Institute of Southern Africa. Retrieved 6 October 2012.
  2. 1 2 3 Peta, Basildon (23 September 2010). "Exiled journalist's return to Zimbabwe". London: The Independent (UK). Retrieved 6 October 2012.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "Profile: Basildon Peta". BBC News. 5 February 2002. Retrieved 6 October 2012.
  4. ↑ "News group wants sanctions for freedom violators". Africa News. 1 December 1994.
  5. 1 2 Byrne, Jennifer (9 May 2001). "Interview with Basildon Peta". Retrieved 6 October 2012.
  6. ↑ "Indy editor acts to protect 'Mugabe hit list' reporter". Press Gazette. 22 August 2001. Archived from the original on 22 September 2013. Retrieved 8 October 2012.
  7. ↑ "Mugabe determined to silence media". New Zealand Herald. 29 December 2001. Retrieved 7 October 2012.
  8. ↑ "Thrown into the jaws of Mugabe's madness". New Zealand Herald. 7 February 2002. Retrieved 7 October 2012.
  9. ↑ Peta, Basildon (13 February 2002). "The truth about my arrest. And the slurs that followed". The Independent (UK). Retrieved 7 October 2012.
  10. ↑ Doyle, Leonard (5 February 2002). "Mugabe Arrests 'Independent' Reporter ; Basildon Peta Is First International Journalist Jailed under Repressive New 'Security' Laws". The Independent. Archived from the original on 10 February 2002. Retrieved 6 October 2012.
  11. ↑ "Basildon Peta's moment of truth". Independent Online News. 16 February 2002. Retrieved 6 October 2012.
  12. ↑ "Zimbabwe reporter feared for life". BBC News. 15 February 2002. Retrieved 8 October 2012.
  13. ↑ "Attacks on the Press 2005: Zimbabwe". Committee to Protect Journalists. 16 February 2006. Retrieved 8 October 2012.
  14. ↑ "New Sunday paper coming". The Lesotho Times. 9 July 2009. Retrieved 6 October 2012.
  15. ↑ MDLF Media Forum 2010 – Interview with Basildon Peta (video). Media Development Loan Fund. 9 September 2010.
  16. ↑ "About us". Retrieved 6 October 2012.
  17. ↑ "Free State to get English language newspaper". Business Day Live. 14 March 2011. Retrieved 8 October 2012.
  18. ↑ Ncube, Mxolisi (31 October 2012). "Mushowe's UZ scandal". Retrieved 1 November 2012.
  19. ↑ "The Institute for Ethics and Economic Policy (IEEP) at Fordham University". Fordham.edu. Retrieved 20 December 2012.
  20. ↑ "Government official sues publisher". IFEX. 16 November 1999. Retrieved 20 December 2012.
  21. ↑ Peta, Basildon (6 August 2000). "Zimbabwe near collapse after farm exodus". The Independent. London. Retrieved 20 December 2012.
  22. ↑ Peta, Basildon (10 June 2001). "Mugabe party 'fears the hand of Lucifer'". New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 20 December 2012.
  23. ↑ Peta, Basildon (10 July 2003). "Mbeki lied to Bush over Mugabe talks, says opposition". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 20 December 2012.
  24. ↑ Peta, Basildon (27 September 2007). "Our fellow Africans will do nothing for us in our hour of need". London: The Independent (UK). Retrieved 20 December 2012.
  25. ↑ Peta, Basildon (7 May 2012). "Lesotho has lost its way". Daily News. Retrieved 20 December 2012.


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