There is a growing trend of public officials exploiting the rule to evade scrutiny and accountability

The Western Cape High Court has dismissed the case from a media group against Speaker Baleka Mbete regarding Parliament’s broadcasting policy.

Media houses want the Western Cape High Court to declare it was unlawful to use a signal jamming device during the Sona in February.

"… That will never happen again and we did not know about it and we are condemning it," the president said, adding that it was "uncalled for".

State Security Minister David Mahlobo has denied reports of signal jamming at the State of the Nation Address, blaming it on equipment glitches.

State Security Minister David Mahlobo has conceded that the signal jamming ahead of the State of the Nation address was an “operational error”.

Baleka Mbete refused to disclose who owns the device used for security measures in Parliament during the Sona 2015, causing scrambled signals.

National Assembly Speaker Baleka Mbete says that while Parliament was aware of a security device, the plan was never to block journalists’ reception.