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SABC TV crew harrassed at Beitbridge border

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An SABC TV News crew has described ill-treatment by police at the entrance of the Beit bridge border post near Musina as harrowing.

Reporter Mike Maringa and Camera operator Vanessa Langa were charged at by fuming police officers while reporting live on TV.

The police blocked the live camera lens with their hands.

They told the crew that the camera was not supposed to face the border gate.

Radio reporter Rudzani Tshivhase also experienced the same hostile treatment on Thursday in Musina.

Langa says they were not physically pushed, but they pushed her equipment and they started blocking the cameras while they were live on air.

She says, “I submitted to what they wanted, I moved the camera to the other direction, but they insisted that I switch it off. That is when they started blocking it with their caps and hands. I felt that they were not professional. I even told them ‘you guys, you are not professional. We are live on air.’ And they started arguing and said I cannot tell them about their professionalism. They are supposed to protect us, but they are, meanwhile, harassing us. How are South Africans, Zimbabweans and the rest of the world supposed to know what is happening if they are not letting us work?”

Meanwhile, Maringa says police actions are disappointing.

“I was surprised because that happens despite us having being granted permission on Thursday to come and work from here, specifically for Morning Live. They pushed around our camera lady and forced her to point the camera to a different direction. It was so disappointing because they did that while we were live on air.”

“It is so disappointing because it’s our very own police officers who were supposed to protect us, but and they are at the forefront of harassing us,” adds Maringa.

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