The Democratic Alliance has accused the SABC of censoring its political election ads by refusing to air them.
We don’t like being over-political but we certainly don’t like censorship a hell of a lot more…
The political party said on Wednesday that it received the SABC’s explanatory affidavit to its complaint lodged with ICASA.
The DA said that the affidavit demonstrates ‘a renewed desperation by the SABC’ to use misleading and contradictory excuses to not air its election adverts.
“The SABC has argued that they have to wait to confirm that we are a registered political party and have submitted our lists. This is a joke,” said Phumzile Van Damme, DA naional spokesperson.
“The DA said that political parties are allowed to buy airtime to flight their adverts as soon as the election date is proclaimed. “Quite bizarrely, their contradictory affidavit proceeded to reference this very regulation,” Van Damme said.
You may recall that back in 2014, before the National Elections, the national broadcast first aired then stopped ads by the DA and EFF on any of their channels, for various reasons given.
The SABC said it needed until 4 June 2016 to “investigate” the matter.
“The DA is still not clear what needed to be investigated. Again, the regulations are clear – and the DA complied with these – as we have done in the past. The request for an investigation was merely a thinly veiled attempt to delay the adverts by a week, and therefore limit their effect on the election campaign,” Van Damme said.
“It is becoming increasingly apparent that the SABC is determined to do whatever it can to censor our adverts and prevent the public from having an opportunity to engage with our offer for change that will move South Africa forward again.”
Van Damme said the DA will lodge a formal complaint with Icasa to thwart what it calls the SABC’s “attempt to abuse its power by attempting to censor the DA and protect the ANC from criticism”.
“South Africans will see through this thinly veiled ploy not to show the DA’s offer, which hinges on stopping corruption, creates jobs and delivering better services for all,” she concluded.
In a turn of events, and only due to the SABC banning the advert, the video has been shared across all social media platforms and has collectively been viewed over half a million times, increasing daily.
You can watch the DA’s Municipal Elections ad below:
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It’s a great ad, but the SABC is all about protection Zuma and his cronies, therefore they don’t want the good news about the DA’s successes to be broadcast
Clearly the ANC doesn’t have an advert, so they are buying time in order to get one out that will try to counter act the DA’s great one. When the other Provinces see how successful the DA has been in the Western Cape, they will think twice about who to vote for! This is not what the ANC will want!
It seems to me that the ANC are getting all the time they want on SABC NEWS, all that propaganda being forced on us, the audience and taxpayers, no need for them to pay for advertising!! We have got to let the people know in another way, probably by action and spreading the word. Let’s do it!!! Start by not watching SABC!!!