The Broadcasting Complaints Commission of South Africa (BCCSA) reserved judgement on Monday on whether the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) was misleading the public by referring to Tshwane instead of Pretoria in radio and television broadcasts.
The two-hour hearing at the BCCSA’s offices in Hyde Park, Johannesburg, on Monday afternoon followed several complaints by viewers and political parties that the SABC has contravened the broadcasting code.
They argued that there is no such geographical place as the city of Tshwane — yet.
All there is, at this stage, is an application before the South African Geographical Names Council (SAGNC) to designate as Tshwane a geographical area encompassing the cities of Pretoria, Centurion, Akasia and Mamelodi.
These are among the group of areas administered by the Tshwane metropolitan council.
It is since the metro began steps to have the name Tshwane registered with the SAGNC that the SABC started using Tshwane, City of Tshwane or Pretoria interchangeably in its broadcasts, the complainants submitted.
”The SABC thought it well to use the name Tshwane and broadcast it as if it replaced the name Pretoria,” Anton Alberts, counsel for the Freedom Front Plus, told the five-member commission.
He argued that any change in the name of Pretoria should only come ”from the highest level of legislative power of South Africa”.
The SABC should take cognisance not just of this, but the extent of opposition to the name change.
In the interest of fulfilling its mandate to broadcast in the public interest, it should check whether the name changes it makes in its reports are factually correct, Alberts submitted.
”I believe you can only refer to a town or a city if it is registered as the title-deeds office. If it is not registered, it does not exist,” added the Democratic Alliance’s Desiree van der Walt.
”Pretoria is still Pretoria,” she said.
It is as if, on learning of the complaints to the BCCSA, the SABC out of ”spite” purposefully began to use the term Tshwane more and more, she charged.
The Advertising Standards Authority earlier this month ordered the Tshwane metropolitan council to withdraw, as misleading, an advertising campaign referring to Pretoria as the ”City of Tshwane”, she pointed out — this after an advertisement flighted on SABC2 on March 27, featuring landmarks in the city and surrounding areas, and ending with the voiceover ”City of Tshwane, Africa’s leading capital city”.
‘Pretoria has disappeared off the map’
In a letter reacting to his complaint, the SABC noted that each municipal bill carries the heading Tshwane metropolitan council, television viewer Frikkie Loots told the commission.
However, the postal address supplied on those very bills is Pretoria.
East London is part of the Buffalo City municipality, and Bloemfontein part of Mangaung municipality.
”They keep their names, but suddenly this past month, Pretoria has disappeared off the map and it is Tshwane,” Loots added.
”There is no place named Tshwane, therefore you can’t report from Tshwane. Nothing can happen in Tshwane, because it doesn’t exist,” argued the Independent Democrats’ Jean Pierre Verster, appearing in his personal capacity.
The SABC, however, has denied breaching the BCCSA code, maintaining that its use of the name Tshwane is not a distortion, an exaggeration or a misrepresentation.
There is nothing preventing the SABC from using the name prior to its approval by the minister of arts and culture, argued SABC counsel Omphemetse Mooki.
It is not unlawful and, consequently, the BCCSA does not have the authority to prevent the SABC from using the name Tshwane, he said, further arguing that use of the term falls within the right to freedom of expression.
”How is the use by the SABC of the name Tshwane in any way going to affect the decision-making by the SAGNC?” Mooki asked.
It has not been suggested that the SABC is ”bending the ears” of the council by indicating there is a preferred recommendation it should make, he submitted.
Mooki contended that the area of Pretoria has also always been known as Tshwane, which ”simply by dint of history” has not enjoyed Pretoria’s significance.
It is like any other place name that indigenous South Africans have always known by a particular name other than the formal, official one.
The complaints against the SABC are essentially about ”personal preferences” and the BCCSA does not have the authority to endorse the preferences of one sector over another, Mooki contended.
”The BCCSA ought to, therefore, dismiss the complaints,” he submitted. — Sapa