The public broadcaster, the South African Broadcasting Corporation, has not covered the official opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) in nine days, says its official spokesperson Douglas Gibson.
In a statement on Tuesday, Gibson said: “Another Democratic Alliance election event was held yesterday [Monday] and once again SABC TV refused to cover it on its flagship news bulletin, at 19:00 on SABC 3. The DA has now held five election events in a row and SABC TV has refused to provide coverage for any of them on SABC 3.”
Local government elections are being held in South Africa on March 1.
In contrast, Monday’s event — a briefing by DA leader Tony Leon MP at Parliament — was deemed “newsworthy” enough for eTV to cover it on its 19:00 bulletin. It also received extensive coverage on radio news bulletins and in print, reported Gibson.
“It has now been nine days since the DA’s last election message was carried by the national broadcaster on SABC 3.
“The DA represents some two million voters and yet SABC TV continues to try and prevent the DA’s election message from reaching them and the rest of the South African electorate.
“It will be appreciated by those who understand the place of elections in a constitutional democracy such as ours, that elections only make sense when the voting public is given an opportunity to compare the offer and message of all serious political parties.
“It should be the job of the public broadcaster, as it is in other democracies, to ensure that the public is properly informed about each party’s campaign and its progress over the course of an election. SABC TV clearly has no intention of providing such a service.” – I-Net Bridge