SABC is no match for civil society and the South African legal system
The driving force behind Icasa’s decision to reverse the policies of the SABC were ordinary men and women among South African society standing up in protest.
Protests to Jacob Zuma’s presidency need a change of focus.
Targeting Zuma himself is useless — he has already proven that he is indifferent to public sentiment and the top leadership of the ANC is still loyal to him, despite his negative impact on the ANC itself.
This support is born from a mixture of personal opinion, financial benefit and fear of consequences should support not be given. Zuma is unlikely to fall before the national elections in 2019, but his decisions can.
The best way to keep South Africa on an inclusive and growing path is not to target the man himself, but to clip his wings by supporting the institutions that allow or disallow his decisions to take place.
This is why this week’s announcement by the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) is so crucial.
On Monday, Icasa ruled that the SABC must withdraw its resolution to ban the broadcasting of violent protests.
“The order of the SABC places an absolute ban on a subject. A subject, as such, may never be blocked from SABC television or radio — South Africa is not, as in the apartheid era, a dictatorship,” Professor Jacobus van Rooyen, the chairman of the Complaints and Compliance Committee of Icasa, said when delivering his judgment.
In standing against the SABC, Icasa joins the Constitutional Court and the public protector as institutions that this year have made strong and legally binding decisions against policies that protect or enrich the presidency.
The SABC made a decision to ban the broadcasting of violent protests on May 26. Icasa can only take action if a complaint is laid and this is where co-ordination and action of civil society is crucial.
The complaint was made by Media Monitoring Africa (an NGO acting as a media watchdog to promote fair and ethical journalism), the Save our SABC Coalition (a group of NGOs, trade unions and individuals that campaign for public broadcasting in the public interest), as well as the Freedom of Expression Institute (a non-profit organisation established in 1994 to protect the right to freedom of expression).
The driving force behind Icasa’s decision to reverse the policies of the SABC were ordinary men and women among South African society standing up in protest.
It was the people that created the change and South African institutions that will enforce it. This is the only combination that can stand up to the presidency between election years. The ruling of Icasa is legally enforceable and the SABC has a week to show that it has complied. In the case of non-compliance, Icasa has the power to impose a fine on the SABC or suspend or revoke its broadcasting licence. Yet the work is not done.
In response to the Icasa ruling, Hlaudi Motsoeneng, the chief operations officer of the SABC, was adamant that the SABC would not obey the order. If the SABC follows through with this defiance the final decision will rest on the Constitutional Court — a case they are unlikely to win given the precedent set by other cases regarding censorship. In 2009, for example, a move to ban the broadcasting of images of a sexual nature was declared unconstitutional. Key to the case is that the SABC went further than a statement of broad policy and instead issued a direct order to the newsroom to remove content of a certain category.
While limits are placed on the screening of violence, Icasa is clear that no content should be removed that is in the public interest and leads to an informed viewership.
According to its ruling, the burning of public property is of public interest.
Icasa stated that “the matter amounts to a categorical blocking of the public’s right to information, in conflict with the Broadcasting Act and the public interest, the constitution and the licence conditions of the SABC” — a ruling the Constitutional Court is unlikely to overturn.
Whether due to a change of heart or realising that the SABC is no match for civil society and the South African legal system, the ANC top leadership has found its voice and has called on the SABC to respect the Icasa ruling.
Original published in The Business Report
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