FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION NEWS FROM SOUTH AFRICA

BROADCASTING - On November 16, Inkatha Freedom Party and the Democratic Party jointly lodged a formal objection with President Mandela, on the constitutionality of the new Broadcasting legislation. The two opposition parties pledged to challenge the Bill in court if President Mandela signed it into law. The main ground of objection is that the Bill would empower the minister to regulate broadcasting, while the constitution requires regulation in the public interest by an independent authority. A joint letter signed by the two parties said the constitution intended to ensure that broadcasting regulation "may not be the reflection of the government's political will". The letter said "The constitution is about limiting, not granting powers to government and if Parliament defies the constitution when it feels its constraints, the many attempts made to finally establish a constitutional state in South Africa will not succeed".

COMMERCIAL SPEECH - The Freedom of Commercial Speech Trust has made an appeal to President Mandela not to sign the Tobacco Products Control Amendment Bill into law to avoid costly court actions over its validity. The Trust, representing the marketing, advertising and media industries in South Africa, said a number of groups were already preparing court actions against the measure. The Bill will make it a criminal offence to advertise or carry any advertising of any tobacco product, as well as ban all arts and sports sponsorship. The Trust said that if the Bill is implemented, economical disruption would be caused, including the loss of hundreds of millions of rands in revenues and the loss of as many as 8 000 jobs in the marketing, advertising and media industries. The Trust stated : "This is about government ‘s commitment to transparency and democracy. The process by which this legislation has been forced through Parliament sets a dangerous precedent. We appeal to you to intervene before millions of rands of public money are wasted in court actions that will, in all likelihood, result in this legislation being overturned". The Trust indicated that their constitutional right to consultation has been repeatedly ignored by the Health Department.

INDEPENDENT AUTHORITY - On November 10, Broadcasting Minister Naidoo resolved a two year dispute over salaries of IBA councillors. Naidoo who met the councillors in Pretoria, said that the meeting dealt with unresolved issues relating to the salaries and service conditions of the councillors. The councillors earlier threatened to resign if the issue was not resolved to their satisfaction. The meeting paved the way to bring the IBA in line with conditions applicable to other statutory organisations. Naidoo said councillors had not been responsible for the situation in which they found themselves, saying it had been "inherited". Outstanding legal issues regarding the conditions of employment of the IBA Council are to be finalised with officials of the Department of State Expenditure. Meanwhile, President Mandela will make a decision on the resignation of councillor Pietie Lotriet in consultation with Parliament's portfolio committee of communications.

JOURNALISTS - Max Hamata, a student journalist at Peninsula Technikon has been charged with bringing the institution into disrepute and was ordered to appear before an internal disciplinary hearing on November 17. This follows the publication of an article titled "Sex for sale on campus" which appeared in the "Mail & Guardian" in September. Hamata could be expelled if he is found guilty. The Freedom of Expression Institute objected to the disciplinary hearing saying that the Rector and the Vice Rector of Student Affairs have already made public statements about the matter and even issued a circular on campus. Yet, they may also be required to be members of the internal disciplinary hearing, which call into question the appropriateness of including people whose feelings on the matter are already known. The Technikon also did not respond to requests from Hamata's legal representative for all statements and documents to assist Hamata in preparing a proper defence. Hamata's chances of preparing an adequate defence have been hampered as a result. In addition, the Pentech management have demonstrated blatant disregard for Hamata's rights as a journalist. FXI believes if there are complaints about the article, or the conduct of Hamata, the correct forum to have them heard is the Press Ombudsman. FXI also believes that Hamata has been denied his constitutional right to a fair and impartial hearing. Hamata threatened to take the Technikon to the Cape High Court to challenge its decision that he could not have a legal adviser at the hearing.

MEDIA AND RACISM - The Human Rights Commission has thrown out a complaint of subliminal racism laid against the "Mail & Guardian" and "Sunday Times" by the Association of Black Accountants and Black Lawyers Association and has instead instituted an inquiry into racism in the media generally. The request for an investigation was turned down "because the issue of racism in the media is not confined to the two newspapers alone". "We felt constrained to do so because it felt it would be difficult to justify an investigation of only two newspapers when the whole of South African society is grappling with various degrees of success against the scourge of racism. We feared that the investigation as envisaged, would put the Commission in a very difficult situation regarding freedom of expression," HRC chairperson Barney Pityana said. FXI called on the Commission to consider the protection of freedom of expression and press freedom in particular, so that the investigation could contribute to more honest and unbiased reporting , but not to curb these rights.

Meanwhile, Pityana has warned that individuals or institutions failing to cooperate with an inquiry will be severely dealt with. He warned that the Commission would not hesitate to use its powers of search and seizure, subpoena and arrest. However, he hoped this would not be necessary and that the Commission would receive the necessary cooperation. He dismissed suggestions that the probe was launched with the influence of the Government, which in many instances had criticised the role of the media in South Africa's transformation phase. "We are not a government institution. We are not even accountable to it but only to Parliament. We don't take instructions from government and therefore it has nothing to do with the inquiry," said Pityana.

ENDS