FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION NEWS FROM SOUTH AFRICA - SEPTEMBER 5 - SEPTEMBER 11 1997

INDEPENDENT BROADCASTING - Seven groups have made a bid for the first free-to-air national television station, which is expected to go on air by the middle of next year. The closing date for applications was on September 5. The various applications would be gazetted within two weeks, after which they will be available for public scrutiny. Interested parties will be given a month within which to make representations on the various applications, while public hearings will be held early next year.

CENSORSHIP -  The Johannesburg Southern Metropolitan Council is to urgently set in motion a process to amend various city ordinances which may infringe on freedom of expression. This followed the near banning of a poster for a play, which was due to open at the Civic Theatre next week. The poster for the play, "The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe", showed the lead actress covered with bubble-like splashes in the bikini regions. It was sent to the council’s Building Control Department for approval for it to be displayed in public areas in the city. On September 8, the department informed the theatre that the poster was in violation of the Outdoor Advertising Act of 1990, which stipulated that no poster could be displayed outdoors if it appeared to be indecent or objectionable in any way. However, the next day the council overturned the department’s decision an approved the poster. The acting manager for media and marketing at the council, Marina Penderis, told the FXI that the incident had raised concerns within the council about various city ordinances which were out of step with the freedom of expression guarantees contained in the Constitution. She said the chairman of the executive Committee, Prema Naidoo, had endorsed a process that would involve reviewing existing city ordinances and perhaps scrapping or amending these laws to ensure that the rights of freedom of expression and speech enjoyed maximum respect. She said while the eventual decision would lie with the politicians, the council would welcome input from the public on the matter. Earlier this year, the Building Control Department was responsible for banning the poster of the play, "Griet Skryf ’n Sprokie", because it showed an outline of a naked woman.
 

OPEN PROCEEDINGS - The head of the African National Congress (ANC) Women’s League, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, on September 9 repeated her demand for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to hear her evidence in public. Madikizela-Mandela has been subpoenaed to attend an in-camera hearing to answer questions about the murder of teenage activist Stompie Seipei and Soweto doctor Abu Baker Asvat. At a media conference Madikizela-Mandela lashed out at the media saying her character had been butchered by the media and her name littered all over the streets of South Africa. She said the media had vandalised her dignity without just cause, and had insinuated her complicity in the murder of a "comrade" based on banal assertions of convicted murderers. At the same news conference, the ANC pledged its support for Madikizela-Mandela’s plea for a public hearing.

PUBLIC BROADCASTING - The Media Monitoring Project (MMP) on September 10 applauded the decision by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) to screen a controversial overseas documentary about Winnie Madikizela-Mandela. The documentary, which was screened the previous night, detailed allegations that Madikizela-Mandela was responsible for the death of Soweto doctor Abu Baker Asvat and teenage activist Stompie Seipei. Ahead of the documentary, the SABC broadcast extensive footage of a statement read by Madikizela-Mandela in which she vociferously denied the truth of the allegations. The presenter also took care to point out that the allegations contained in the documentary were so far unchallenged in court, adding that the views expressed were subjective. The MMP said the decision to screen the documentary "was courageous, correct and demonstrated all to clearly the importance of public service broadcasting in providing information for the public which would not otherwise have been shown". The MMP added: "It also demonstrated that documentary and information programming play a critical role in public broadcasting and it is tragic that the programme was aired so late in the evening. It is of course a fundamental critique of public broadcasting in South Africa today that investigative documentaries about South Africans, in South Africa and more especially about our own experiences, are being made and funded by foreigners, for foreign networks and not by our own broadcasters."

PUBLIC BROADCASTING: The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) confirmed on September 10 that it was in the process of amending its sponsorship policy that could see certain core programmes, such as the main television news bulletin at 8pm, being sponsored. SABC spokesman Enoch Sithole, quoted in the "Business Day" newspaper,  said the new policy on sponsorship stated clearly that "editorial control and integrity is considered as being of overriding importance to financial gains." He said: "No sponsor or organisation will have a say in either editorial policy or content, and editorial integrity shall be protected at all times". Sithole added that potential sponsors would also be made aware that, in addition to the integrity of the news being "sacrosanct", sponsors and their products or services would not be exempt from fair criticism during SABC programmes.

ENDS