A hearing by communications regulator Icasa’s complaints and compliance committee on the Democratic Alliance’s advertisement complaint case against the SABC was adjourned on Tuesday night.
The hearing would resume on Wednesday at 6pm to give the SABC more time to consult with its legal team, committee chairman Wandile Tutani said.
The committee was hearing arguments from the DA and the SABC regarding the pulling of a DA television ad which was paid for, after airing it only three times.
Ronnie Bokwa, for the SABC, said the ad was aired twice last Tuesday and once last Wednesday before it was taken off the air.
The DA laid a complaint with Icasa on Saturday after the SABC failed to broadcast its election advertisement.
The “Ayisafani” TV ad was pulled off the air last week, along with five radio advertisements.
The ad shows the DA’s Gauteng premier candidate and spokesman, Mmusi Maimane, standing in front of a mirror talking about the current state of the country. He says life today is better than it was 20 years ago and gives credit to great leaders who he believes have taken the country forward.
“But since 2008 we’ve seen president Jacob Zuma’s ANC, an ANC that is corrupt, an ANC for the connected few, an ANC that is taking us backwards, an ANC where more than 1,4m people have lost jobs.” Maimane then asks Zuma where the jobs are.
The SABC did not broadcast the advertisement and gave the DA a letter. In it, SABC acting group CEO Tian Olivier informed the party that it would not be able to broadcast the ad on radio or television on four grounds:
- That the Icasa regulations on political advertising state clearly that there may not be incitement of violence.
- That the Electoral Code of Conduct includes a clause prohibiting the publication of false information about other candidates or parties.
- That the Advertising Standards Authority did not permit attacking another product to promote its own.
- The SABC would not permit personal attacks on any party member or leader by any other party, as was being done in the DA’s advert in respect of Zuma.
The SABC stood by its decision. It said the party could submit an amended version of the ad. “We acted properly,” Bokwa said at the hearing.
DA leader Helen Zille and the SABC’s acting chief operating officer, Hlaudi Motsoeneng, were present at the hearing.
Bokwa said the DA’s ad included a part where a picture appeared of a police official pointing his firearm at two members of the public wearing blue shirts. The voice along with the picture said: “We have seen the police force killing our people.”
Bokwa said the use of language and the visuals used were inflammatory and could not be seen as freedom of speech. He said the current climate in the country and the media reports of police brutality portrayed a negative image of the police. “From a responsible broadcaster’s point of view, we felt to flight the advert would create the impression that there is an imminent threat of violence.”
Bokwa said he had an issue with the use of the word “our”.
“Does it mean police are killing the DA’s people?” he asked.
A member of the complaints committee asked whether the broadcaster had a checklist for all ads aired on the broadcaster’s channels. The SABC asked for an adjournment before responding.
The broadcaster is yet to answer a number of questions posed by members of the committee. The committee — established in terms of the Icasa Act — is an independent statutory body empowered to adjudicate, hear and make a finding on all matters referred to it, not only by the authority, but also by the public. — Sapa
