A television documentary on President Thabo Mbeki, pulled off the air at the last minute, is finally to be screened by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), the Freedom of Expression Institute (FXI) said on Wednesday.
The pulling of the documentary resulted in accusations of self-censorship being levelled against the national broadcaster.
At the time the SABC said the programme was canned because ”internal approval processes were not correctly followed”.
The FXI expressed concern that the reportedly critical tone adopted towards Mbeki had resulted in the withdrawal of the documentary — and constituted self-censorship.
A version of the documentary with ”minor edits” will be screened on Sunday June 10 at 9pm on SABC 3.
The FXI welcomed the airing of the documentary but said the SABC’s change of heart may have been a response to the documentary’s producers wanting to take their material elsewhere.
”We are … made to understand that the SABC decided to reschedule the programme after the producers wrote to the SABC to cancel the contract, and planned to take the documentary elsewhere and show it at film festivals,” the institute said in a statement.
”This train of events suggests that the SABC’s decision was motivated by pressure to respond to these developments, rather than a commitment to make good on the original undertaking to seek an accommodation with the producers.”
The institute said the minor edits include clarifying a portion of the documentary concerning the assassination of South African Communist Party general secretary Chris Hani.
The broadcaster reportedly argued that the documentary could be interpreted as linking Mbeki to the assassination and the changes make it clear that these allegations were a baseless rumour.
The furore surrounding the documentary was proceeded by allegations that the corporation had banned certain political commentators.
SABC spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago could not immediately be reached for comment on Wednesday. — Sapa