Hazel Friedman
CENSORSHIP boards la apartheid might be out of fashion at the SABC, but they are making a confusing comeback in the form of ”acceptance committees” on each of the corporation’s television channels.
In the absence of an overall policy, the rules differ from channel to channel, and no one knows for certain what they are. This has come to light in the wake of the row surrounding Guru Busters, the controversial documentary which sets out to expose the miracles performed by Hindu and Muslim holy men as fakes.
The programme was due to be screened last Monday on SABC3. It was hurriedly cancelled after promotional footage of mutilation provoked outrage from members of the Muslim community. SABC insiders say senior staff at SABC3 even received death threats.
The debacle echoes that around Jihad in America in 1996, also cancelled at the last minute. Eventually the documentary was screened, followed by a panel discussion.
A similar fate awaits Guru Busters, which will now be screened on Monday at 10.15pm, and will be followed by a panel discussion.
The controversy has thrown open the issue of censorship at the SABC, as well as the question of who and what determines policy at the corporation.
Presently there is no overall censorship policy. Decisions on whether controversial programmes should be screened rest with the acceptance committees on each of the channels, or with the programme buyer. And there are no hard and fast rules determining what can or cannot be screened.
”Each channel decides for itself, and their decision does not have to be based on the number of complaints received,” says SABC representative Marge Murray. ”If the committee decides the programme is offensive, it will not be screened”.
Murray does not know the criteria defining and determining offensive material on the separate channels, as each channel evaluates its programmes on an individual basis and then decides for itself.
”But it would be easier, and a lot clearer,” she says, ”if there was a definite policy on censorship which applied to the SABC in general.”