An SABC News crew from South Africa trying to get into Zimbabwe to cover the Zimbabwe coup against the old dictator Robert Mugabe was abruptly deported back to South Africa and denied entry on Friday 17 November.
The Zimbabwe government didn't give any reasons for barring the SABC News journalists and crew entry into the country who tried to report from there for the SABC's SABC News (DStv 404) channel.
South African TV news channels - eNCA, SABC News and ANN7 - have been trying to play catch-up since Wednesday when news of the military coup first broke - trying to compete with the first-hand on-the-ground reporting from international TV news channels.
CNN International excelled and was the best in biz with its Zimbabwe coverage with at least two correspondents on the ground in Harare, while Sky News also reported from the ground in Zimbabwe, alongside Al Jazeera that has a news bureau in the troubled Southern African nation.
The news crew from the South African public broadcaster was deported after landing at the Robert Mugabe International Airport.
The SABC's foreign editor for SABC News Sophie Mokoena, reporter Noma Bolabi and others were barred from entering Zimbabwe.
