SABC fined R500 000 for refusing to air DA election ad

A screengrab of the DA’s election ad, which has been banned by the SABC from its platforms

Communications regulator Icasa has ordered the SABC to resume flighting a controversial Democratic Alliance election ad that depicts the burning of the South African flag.

Icasa’s complaints and compliance committee found that the SABC’s refusal to air the ad had “no legal basis” under the Electronic Communications Act or the regulations dealing with political advertising.

It recommended that the SABC be fined R500 000 for banning the ad from its public service television channels due to “prejudice caused to the DA”.

Furthermore, the committee recommended that Icasa:

Direct the SABC to cease its conduct of refusing to broadcast the DA’s political advertisement.
Direct the SABC to fulfil its obligations under the law and air the DA’s advertisement.

Icasa said it approved the recommendations of the complaints and compliance committee at a meeting on Friday.

The SABC wrote to communications regulator Icasa earlier this month to inform it that it would not carry the DA ad. The broadcaster argued that the ad “encourages damage to treasured national symbols”.

“The national flag is a national symbol which represents diverse elements of the country and national unity. Additionally, it is expected that the national flag should be accorded dignity and respect. This, the flag is not a representation of a political party but the nation at large.”

Watch the ad the SABC banned:

In the DA’s ad, a narrator speaks over an image of the South African flag slowly burning. The voiceover says: “For the first time in 30 years, the ANC will lose its majority. But they will do anything to stay in power. Imagine a coalition between the ANC, the violent EFF and the Zuma faction. Under this coalition of corruption, life will only get worse. This election is about survival.”

At the end of the ad, the flag is restored to its original, unburnt form, and the voiceover concludes: “Unite to rescue South Africa. Vote DA.”

President Cyril Ramaphosa labelled the ad “treasonous” and “despicable” despite it not being illegal to burn the flag in South Africa as a form of protest.

‘Attack on our democracy’

DA leader John Steenhuisen expressed outrage at the SABC’s decision to ban the ad and said his party would take the broadcaster to court to “defend our constitution”.

“In an unprecedented attack on our democracy, deployed ANC cadres at the SABC have banned the DA’s latest advertisement from the air to hide the truth of how the ANC has burnt our country to the ground,” Steenhuisen said in a post on X at the time.

Read the full Icasa complaints and compliance committee judgment (PDF)

“This censorship is not only a clampdown on dissent, but also provides a foretaste of the assault on our flag that will come under an ANC/EFF Doomsday Coalition. The banning of our ad only reinforced its message: that our constitutional democracy will burn unless millions vote DA.” — © 2024 NewsCentral Media