If he cold-blooded murder of Isolezwe photographer Bongani Mbatha in KwaZulu-Natal is part of a trend to silence the journalist messengers in South Africa, then our country's robust media freedom is under threat

It's difficult to measure a trend. But on the night of 18 July a photographer from Independent Media's Isolezwe newspaper, Bongani Mbatha, was gunned down in cold blood in KwaZulu-Natal. a suspicion that his murder may be related to his work. We are told there is an investigation to establish who his killers were. Investigations into murders and prosecutions take time, especially if the victims are whistle-blowers, journalists or photographers. We don't have a history of journalists being murdered or jailed in the democracy age in South Africa, unlike in many parts of the world. However, this may become a trend to watch out for.

In May this year, Ralikonelo Joki, an investigative radio journalist in Lesotho, was shot 13 times, and killed, after leaving work one night. He was a well-known journalist at the privately owned Ts'enolo FM. His killers are still at large.

Internationally, murders of journalists were up 50% in 2022 compared with the year before, according to Unesco. This translates to 86, or one killing every four days.

So often, journalist bodies and NGOs in the media space ask the police and investigating officers: was this a criminal act, or was it done because the journalist...