Namibian court grants bail to SA journalist

A Namibian court on Wednesday granted bail to a South African journalist arrested last week for allegedly entering the country on a tourist visa in order to do television reporting.

“I had to pay N$8 000 [US$780] bail and was told I can fly back home tonight [Wednesday],” Bonita Nuttall, presenter of M-Net’s Carte Blanche investigative news programme, said.

Namibian officials say Nuttall was arrested on Friday at the Hosea Kutako International Airport as she was returning home after entering the country earlier in the week on a tourist visa.

They found that she had been doing a story on the nomadic ethnic Himba people in north-west district.

She was arrested and detained at the airport’s police holding cells, then released the next day after paying a N$2 000 surety.

Foreign journalists normally require a pre-arranged temporary residence and work permit to operate in Namibia.

The case was adjourned till February.—AFP