On Our Radar

Pakistan, Uganda & South Africa

7 August 2026

On Our Radar this week: Authorities declare most of Pakistan off-limits to foreign correspondents, Uganda’s largest independent media group returns to air after a month-long military shutdown, and South Africa’s SABC marks 90 years with its funding crisis still unresolved.

On Our Radar this week…

PMA is alarmed by Pakistan’s new restrictions barring international news media from reporting across most of the country. Under the Foreign Media Facilitation Guidelines 2026, issued on 3 August, anyone working for foreign media outlets, including Pakistani nationals, must now obtain a No Objection Certificate (NOC) before reporting anywhere outside Islamabad, Karachi, and Lahore. The government has described the rules as an administrative mechanism to verify and facilitate foreign media access, but the guidelines set no timeframe for approval, and journalists say existing certificate requests for sensitive areas can take months to process or go unanswered altogether. The restrictions come amid heightened tension following recent international news reporting from inside Pakistan-administered Kashmir, where protesters alleged that security forces had fired on unarmed demonstrators. In response, Pakistani authorities strongly denied the reporting before ordering journalists to leave the region. PMA calls on the Pakistani authorities to withdraw these guidelines and guarantee foreign correspondents the same access to report freely that a genuinely open society affords. Read more via BBC.

PMA welcomes the resumption of Nation Media Group’s (NMG) operations in Uganda, but the manner of its return does little to reassure us that independent media in the country is safe from future political whims. As we previously covered in OOR, Ugandan Chief of Defence Forces General Muhoozi Kainerugaba – who is the son of President Yoweri Museveni – ordered the total shutdown of NMG on 28 June, forcing NTV Uganda and Spark TV off-air and placing the group’s Kampala offices under what NMG described as a “military siege.” Now, majority shareholder Taifa Group has announced that NTV Uganda, Spark TV, the Daily Monitor and NMG’s other platforms will resume broadcasting and publishing, with services being restored progressively. Tellingly, Taifa Group’s statement thanked both President Museveni and General Kainerugaba for their role in the outcome, illustrating a concerning dynamic where independent media’s ability to report the news currently rests on the goodwill of the same individuals capable of shutting it down again. A free press cannot operate on that basis. PMA calls on the Ugandan government to guarantee, through law rather than discretion, that no independent media outlet can again be taken off air by military order, and to ensure NMG’s staff can report freely and without fear of repeat reprisal. Read more via RFI.

Finally, PMA is concerned that the South African Broadcasting Corporation’s (SABC) funding crisis remains unresolved, even as the broadcaster marks 90 years of public service this month. Nine decades since its 1936 founding, the SABC has evolved into a multi-platform operation of strong relevance; just recently, its SABC+ streaming platform surpassed three million registered users. Meanwhile, the Communications Minister has credited SABC staff with building one of South Africa’s most influential public institutions. But, as we laid out only weeks ago in OOR, a stalled funding bill and undecided financing model now threaten SABC’s survival as a functioning broadcaster, with debt to state signal distributor Sentech climbing. A milestone anniversary does not resolve that crisis, and government’s stated commitment to a “strong, sustainable and independent” broadcaster will mean little if it is not backed by a funding settlement to match. PMA reiterates its call on the South African government to finalise that settlement without further delay, so that the SABC’s next 90 years are ensured through financial certainty and sustainability. Read more via TechReview Africa.

PMA Advocacy Team