ACCESS TO INFORMATION - "The Citizen" on January 24 said that e.tv was considering going to court to challenge the judicial Services Commission's rejection of its bid to broadcast live interviews with prospective judges. The JSC unanimously decided on January 22 that there would be no television broadcasts of the interviews for new judges, although the media would continue to be free to attend and report on them. "Right now we are considering taking it to a High Court to get a court order to allow us in,"said e.tv corporate affairs head Kanthan Pillay. Lawyers for the station had yet to receive the full text of the JSC's decision and would have to carefully look at its reasons for rejecting the application. Pillay said that the station was not prone to frivolous litigation, but thought the matter serious enough to take whatever action it needed to take in the courts to be allowed to screen the hearings. Arguing against live broadcasts, the general council of the Bar of South Africa said it feared that television would offer banal comment, and pointed out its tendency to "give attention to the clothing worn by women," while the Law Society of SA argued that live screening could ruin candidates' professional or personal lives. FXI wrote to the Commission, in support of appeals to allow the broadcast media to record the Commission while it interviewed candidate judges. In the letter, FXI said: "Notwithstanding the transparency and the fact that the media are present during the interviews, FXI would like to argue that it is in the interest of the free flow of information that in addition the broadcast media be allowed to record and broadcast widely the interviews".

CENSORSHIP - Nu Metro and other movie houses around the country will go ahead with the screening of the controversial movie "The Exorcist", despite an outcry by Rhema Church. The movie, first released in 1973, depicts the exorcism of a young girl possessed by the devil. Rhema Church threatened to boycott Nu Metro cinemas if the screening of the movie went ahead as planned. The church said that the movie did not represent suitable entertainment but evil which was something real. In a statement, FXI said it believes that the opinions of group such as Rhema Church should not dictate what South Africans should or should not see. "Through the apartheid era, South Africans were held hostage to the censorship of a narrow-minded Calinistic regime. Today we have enlightened legislation which recognises that citizen should be able to choose for themselves what they wish to consume". Because of this belief, FXI approached Nu Metro regarding rumours that it was going to withdraw the film. This resulted in a categorical denial. Nu Metro MD Glen E Clack said: "We believe strongly that our responsibility is to offer the product supplied to us by the film studios that we represent and leave it to the public to decide whether or not they wish to see the film."

FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION - "The Citizen" on January 24 reported that a Free State police officer faced disciplinary action after speaking to the SA Broadcasting Corporation last year and made allegations about poor equipment in the public order policing unit in QwaQwa. Eastern Free State area commissioner Motseki Seale said that Inspector Dikotso Thateng broke the police code of conduct by speaking to the media without first following the proper internal channels. Thateng apparently complained to the SABC about unusable vehicles, tables and chairs at the unit. The fact that Thateng was stationed at the Phuthaditshaba police station and had no direct ties to the QwaQwa unit had aggravated the situation. He has not been suspended and it is not known when he will face disciplinary action.

HATE SPEECH - A furore erupted over songs that denigrated President Thabo Mbeki and former President Nelson Mandela, following a broadcast on Radio 702 of two songs telling Mbeki and Mandela where to get off. "The Star" reported on January 24 that the young author Shane McCallaghan, who wrote and performed the songs in Afrikaans, said the songs were the product of a drunken party and "not meant to be taken seriously". One song tells the president to "fok off" because he wants to take everything. It also says "kaffirs" had better beware because they rape farmers' wives and children. The other song labels Mandela as a "kaffir" who "spyker sy ma" (sleeps with his mother). MacCallaghan, who lives in Cape Town, is a professional comedian with the sage name of "Shane, sies jou vark". "This whole thing has just gone haywire. The song was recorded three years ago at a party in Bapsfontein after I had a few drinks. But I am not a racist, I am a normal person like everyone else," he said. He added that he would prefer it if people just ignore the songs completely. "I feel very bad about the songs and no one besides the people at the party was supposed to hear them. I want to apologise for them". However, Nazeem Mahatey, Mbeki's spokesperson said that he hoped the SA Human Rights Commission would take up the issue of hate speech. "The songs are disgusting, out of order and not part of the new South Africa." Themba Sono, president of the SA Institute of Race Relations and also a Democratic Alliance legislator in Gauteng, said while the songs no doubt posed a serious barrier to reconciliation, people should recognise that we live in a free country. "We must try to control the thoughts and attitudes of people. We must not just deal with actions that infringe on the rights of others," Sono said. Police spokesperson Henriette Bester said that MacCallaghan could be charged with crimen injuria or defamation of character.

JOURNALISTS - Different media organisations recently condemned and expressed shock at the shooting of Jimmy Seepe by, "City Press" journalist in Soweto on January 15. Seepe, a political editor, was shot four times in an attempted hijacking. "City Press" on January 21 reported that it was not clear if that was an ordinary crime incident or whether Jimmy was deliberately targeted for elimination because of his reporting. "We hope and pray he was not targeted by the shady characters who populate the underworld. But in case he was, we want to make it unequivocally clear that "City Press" will not be intimidated or silenced by faceless cowards who want to hold this country to ransom. "The Citizen" said that police spokesperson Mbhazima Shiburi said Seepe had not been to the police station to either open a docket or lay charges against the alleged criminals as required by law and insurance purposes. Shiburi said the police were investigating the robbery of a motor vehicle and visited the victim's family with the intention of getting a statement from him. But the family refused to disclose Seepe's whereabouts and the police have been unable to get a statement from him.

TELECOMMUNICATIONS - "Sowetan" on January 22 reported that the cellular network provider MTN, majority owned by Johnnic, has managed to take its African expansion strategy a step forward by winning one of the three mobile licences on auction in Nigeria. Johnnic chief executive Paul Edwards told I-Net Bridge in an interview that the market "does not fully appreciate" the value that the Nigerian market could unlock for shareholders. Edwards said that they are looking at making their first connection in the next six to eight months. "The nation is hungry for telecommunications with only four in 1 000 people having access to some form of communications. Infrastructure is completely inadequate with only 400 000 fixed lines and 30 000 analogue cellphone connections in the entire country," Edwards said.

Ends