The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) has narrowly interpreted the provisions of legislation governing broadcasting and had missed the point of the complaint by opposition political parties about the live broadcast of the ruling African National Congress’s election launch, the Inkatha Freedom Party said on Tuesday.
The United Democratic Movement, the Inkatha Freedom Party and the official opposition Democratic Alliance lodged a complaint with the authority last week after the airing of the ANC launch the previous Sunday.
The authority ruled that the election period had not yet started and therefore the complaint fell outside of the ambit of the framework envisaged in the election regulations and guidelines. The election period was defined as the period from the date on which the election day was proclaimed — by the president — to the day after candidates were declared elected.
IFP MP Suzanne Vos, a member of the communications committee of the National Assembly, said in a statement that her party was “obviously disappointed by the decision” of the authority “to narrowly interpret the provisions of the Broadcasting and IBA [Independent Broadcasting Authority] Acts and believes Icasa has totally missed the point of the complaint by the IFP, DA and UDM”.
“This reliance on legalese and what appears to be extremely limited interpretations of certain provisions of the Broadcasting Act, the IBA Act and IEC [Independent Electoral Commission] regulations obfuscates the real issue: clearly the SABC gave the ANC majority party an unfair advantage by broadcasting live the launch of its election manifesto.
“It is also now clear that the SABC intends to deny the same privilege to other parties contesting the forthcoming general election.”
Her own party’s election launch was not broadcast live.
She charged that the SABC also allowed the ANC to advertise repeatedly its election launch on SABC radio stations before the event, but soon after it denied the same opportunity to the IFP to advertise the launch of its election manifesto.
“Icasa has failed to reach into the heart of the Acts and to also give equal consideration to their injunctions that, in effect, the public broadcaster must not be biased, it must be fair and equitable in its treatment of all political parties and it must promote and protect the principles of multiparty democracy.
“In effect, Icasa has allowed the SABC to get off on a technicality: the election date had not been set so rules governing the public broadcaster in this regard did not apply. But this case is not closed. Clearly the court of public opinion has already ruled against the SABC and its blatant, lickspittle approach to the majority party has damaged its reputation and its independence is now questioned.
“The public broadcaster is now being seen, tragically, as a state broadcaster.
“What is clear to all, including Icasa, is that state resources were used to promote the president of the ANC and the ANC’s election campaign. The cost of this free advertising given by the SABC to the ANC has yet to be revealed and the IFP intends to find out precisely what this live broadcast cost the corporation.
“We find Icasa’s argument that the public broadcaster afforded political parties the opportunity to respond to the ANC president’s speech particularly weak and grasping at straws in an effort to redeem the SABC’s obvious and serious misjudgement in allowing itself to be used as a state broadcaster in its support of the majority party.”
Meanwhile, UDM leader Bantu Holomisa said the exoneration of the SABC from any wrongdoing by Icasa for covering the ANC election manifesto public meeting live on television “is quite regrettable”.
“This decision calls the credibility of this so-called independent institution into question.”
This “palace verdict” did not come as a surprise to the UDM as the same ANC government appointed Icasa.
“It is clear that they are there to defend their government whenever it is under pressure as a result of its brazen hypocrisy. It is a question of looking at whom their salaries come from.” — I-Net Bridge