The Freedom of Expression Institute (FXI) has lodged a complaint against the public broadcaster for allegedly failing to implement the findings of a report into the blacklisting of certain political commentators.
The FXI argues that the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) ‘violated its founding statute, the Broadcasting Act, eleven times, its licence conditions five times and the South African Constitution three times in the recent past”.
FXI executive director Jane Duncan says the body is also concerned about reports that SAfm anchor John Perlman has been threatened with a written warning while no action is taken against the head of SABC news, Snuki Zikalala, who created the blacklist.
‘The FXI’s loss of confidence in the ability of the SABC to address the report’s findings has precipitated the complaint (laid with the Complaints and Compliance Committee of the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa),” Duncan says in a statement.
SABC spokesman Kaizer Kganyago says the broadcaster has not been informed of the complaint.
‘We’ve heard about it but we have not received any official notification of the complaint. We cannot say anything at this stage.”
A commission of inquiry was established last year after Perlman confronted the SABC’s Kganyago on air about the existence of the blacklist.
The commission’s report was released in October and it recommended that the SABC board ‘take close cognisance of the concerns about the particular management style of Dr Zikalala as outlined in this report, particularly regarding problems of communication and the inappropriately narrow interpretation of the SABC’s mandate.”