ACCESS TO INFORMATION -The government on August 4 made amendments to the Employment Equity Bill which would compel companies to disclose details of salaries and benefits for all employees. Amendments tabled before parliamentary labour committee, came in the wake of trade union criticism that not much has been done to bridge the apartheid wage gap between workers and the bosses. The proposed amendments stipulate that the information on remuneration packages be included in the employment equity report that companies will have to submit every year to the labour department in terms of the Bill. According to labour director-general Sipho Pityana, the Employment Conditions Commission which was set up under the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, would be tasked to examine the issue further and define the amendments and recommend appropriate norms and benchmark that would aid enforcement.

BROADCASTING - The SABC on August 5 announced the appointment of Phil Molefe as editor-in-chief of SABC Television News with effect from October 1. Molefe will replace Allister Sparks. According to SABC, the corporation's board had been looking for a person with a sense of news and editorial independence, familiar with South African politics and had experience in continuity presentation on television. Molefe, currently head of SABC TV news said that he was deeply moved and humbled by the expression of confidence the board and group executive of the SABC had shown in him. He said he would continue where Sparks had left off.

BROADCASTING - The IBA has been forced to slash its budget by 30% and may fail to deliver on its mandate as a result. Its budget cut has forced it to restructure and about 25% of its staff would be retrenched. Further retrenchments are expected when the IBA merges with SATRA. The IBA's new chief executive Bul Lombard said the budget cuts also meant that IBA projects like the awarding of community radio station licences could be delayed by up to three years. All IBA provincial offices would be closed. Lombard said that they have acknowledged the "exorbitant expenditure of the previous councillors due to very poor management", but they had already started replacing the legacy with a new approach based on professional management. He also said that the IBA had applied to government for a supplement to the budget. "About R5-million was desperately needed if the body was not to be crippled by the changes," he said. Meanwhile, "The Saturday Star" on August 8 reported that they had obtained documents which revealed that the IBA's new chief executive officer charged the IBA R38 000, plus vat of R5 320 for management services and consultation in July. The IBA staff, faced with retrenchment, were angered by the decision to employ Lombard and by his alleged monthly fee of R43 000. The staff accused the IBA chairperson Feleng Sekha of racism in appointing an Afrikaner to the strategic position. Lombard denied that he had charged the IBA R43 000 for his services, but refused to give details about his salary.

CENSORSHIP - The review board recently found that the controversial paintings "Viscera" were not pornographic. The Child Welfare had alleged that Mark Hipper, the artist, had used vulnerable children in sexual poses and that the exhibition would promote, contribute and justify the sexual exploitation of children. The Review Board announced that the Board had upheld the Films and Publications Board's original decision that the paintings do not constitute child pornography and were appropriate for all ages subject to parental guidance. The acting chair of the Review Board Patricia Lambert indicated that the act outlaws child pornography but also aims to balance free speech with rights. The board found that no live child models were used, that the exhibition did not promote the sexual abuse of children, and that it might consciously be used to deal with their sexuality and combat child abuse. According to Hipper, pornography is made for a specific and singular reason, to arouse the viewer. "My art was not made to arouse anyone to sexual tumescence and I am convinced that is obvious to anyone making an effort to look at the work. My work is a lot more subtle and more complex than that. Nor is my work, I believe, even erotic."

COMMERCIAL SPEECH - The new Tobacco Bill is expected to become a law this year after receiving the unanimous blessing of the Cabinet recently. The draft bill gives Health Minister Nkosazana Zuma the power to declare that the smoking of tobacco products in any public place or particular kinds or public places prohibited. She told "The Star" that the main focus is to "protect non-smokers and if there is a way to make sure they don't have to breathe polluted air, then smoking rooms are fine". She indicated that bars, clubs and other drinking holes would not be exempt from the measure, nor would buses, taxis or restaurant. "There is nothing we can do about people smoking in private homes, non-smokers have a choice if they want to go there or not, but for the rest we have a duty to non-smokers to protect them. Our constitution guarantees them this," she said. The other main thrust of the legislation is the ban on all forms of tobacco advertising. The Print Media Association said that the proposed bill will have negative effect on the print media. In a statement on August 7, PMA said that it would be revenue to the government and employment that would suffer as a significant portion of advertising revenue was derived from tobacco product advertising. The PMA also said that as the media revenue decreases, the media themselves will shrink, which means that the consumer will find thinner and fewer publications for sale and reduction in the variety of news and views available. The PMA said that rather than banning tobacco advertising outright, government should work with the media, advertising and marketing industry to develop guidelines which would see acceptable codes, controls and regulations being implemented on tobacco advertising.

DEFAMATION - The "Mail & Guardian" recently was faced in court for libel. On July 31, Truth Commissioner Hlengiwe Mkhize defended her name against an article in which she was accused of a chequered history where management skills were concerned. In a separate case, on August 10, KwaZulu-Natal Attorney-General Tim McNally embarked on his R3-million suit over a 1995 "M & G" article suggesting he was insufficiently conscientious in prosecuting perpetrators of "third force" violence. However, in a suprise move the newspaper agreed to settle and pay McNally R50 000 indicating that the settlement involved no concession, retraction or apology on its part. On September 7, Emanuel Shaw II, the Liberian financier who bagged an extraordinary R3-million contract with the state oil fund, will seek R7-million in damages also from the "M & G" for a series of articles which explored his dealings in South Africa and in West Africa.

Meanwhile, the NP on August 11 told the Press Ombudsman that a M & G article containing allegations that NP leader Martinus van Schalkwyk paid a convicted thief for sex had "besmirched" the media, the NP and its leader. NP said that the article was "unfair, defamatory, blackening the name of the NP and its leader prior to elections". The M & G defended the decision to publish the story and denied it was an aberration as far as media practice was concerned. The ruling has not yet being made by the Ombudsman but the NP has called for the paper to make a front-page apology over the matter.

INDEPENDENT BROADCASTING - The African Media Entertainment on August 4 rescued the Afrikaans radio station Punt after announcing that it intended to propose a scheme whereby AME would acquire a significant interest in the station. According to AME MD Mike Vincent, the deal was subject to approval by the High Court, shareholders, creditors and the IBA. However, AME has in the meantime taken over the management of Punt Media's two radio stations, one based in Cape Town and the other in Johannesburg. Punt had been in provisional liquidation since July 7 and the return date was extended to September 15. Punt Media is owned by a consortium that includes, BFC Capital, Perskor, Genbel Securities, Mnyama Holdings and Nozala Investments.

JOURNALISTS - Cape Argus journalist Thabo Mabaso on August 2 identified three policemen who allegedly assaulted him at Gugulethu police station at an identity parade at the offices of the Independent Complaints Directorate in Cape Town. Mabaso was assaulted when he went to the Gugulethu police station to report a traffic accident. He lost his left eye in the assault. The ICD regional director Riaz Saloojee said that the fate of the policemen was up to the attorney-general. He said that there were two charges pending: assault to do grievous bodily harm and accessory after the fact, alternatively defeating the ends of justice. Mabaso said that he was pleased to see progress being made in the case after five previous identity parades had been called off when the policemen refused to participate.

MEDIA & GOVERNMENT - On August 11, South African National Editors Forum told the Government that protecting journalists from being forced to reveal confidential sources was vital to sustaining a democratic culture. Sanef said "as long as Section 205 of the Criminal Procedure Act is being used by the state to pressure journalists to breach the confidence of sources, democratic culture is under threat". The Sanef delegation, which met Justice Dullar Omar, Safety and Security Minister Sydney Mufamadi, sought to convince the Government to entrench the concept of "just excuse", provided in Section 189, to cover the relationship between journalists and confidential sources. Sanef said that the strengthening of the "just excuse" element of the law would be in the interest of media freedom and freedom of expression. Sanef member Raymond Louw said "We say that what constitutes a just excuse is the journalist's right to continue to be able to inform the public and freedom to conduct his or her profession". Louw said that laws like s205 are used by most countries and are necessary, but authorities abuse them to force journalists to disclose information, which conflicts with the constitution. Louw indicated that for journalists to be forced to disclose their sources, might lead to the public loosing confidence in them, threats and physical danger. He said "If the media is emasculated in this way, the public will not be informed on the same level".

PORNOGRAPHY - South African nudist Beau Brummel is determined to release and distribute his pornographic video, "Nudity, Freedom and Pornography", in which fully clothed TV presenters Ruda Landman, Derek Watts and Felicia Mabuza Suttle appear, without their consent. Footage of TV talk show host Mabuza and Carte Blanche presenters Watts and Landman were edited into the middle of the sex scenes. Lawyers for M-Net, Combined Artists Production and the SABC made an urgent application on August 7 in the High Court for a restraining order against him. Brummel has been granted legal aid by the Nylstroom Magistrate Court to contest the interdict banning his controversial porn video. Brummel said that the TV personalities were in the middle of the hardcore porn and had confessed that Landman would be shocked by it. Media law experts indicated that Brummel should have approached the TV personalities to sign release forms giving him the right to use the material, since the film was for commercial exploitation. Lawyers for M-Net were concerned that the film would affect its image because it caters for family-type viewing. Brummel said that the SABC and M-Net had become " hysterical about pornography and were, through their lawyers, making mischief for the porn king". He said more than 1 000 orders had already been received for the R149 video.