SABC capitulates and finally agrees to air DA election adverts

03 June 2016

The DA is pleased that the SABC has finally agreed to flight the DA’s election adverts, having used every trick in the book to delay their airing for more than 5 days. This is an important victory, which we hope will dissuade the public broadcaster from attempting to censor opposition political parties again.

Given that the SABC has agreed to air the DA’s election adverts, we have placed our complaint with ICASA on hold. This does not mean the complaint has been dropped completely, and should the SABC use any other means to delay the airing of the advert, we will revive the complaint immediately. 

The DA argued from the start that we had every right to air our adverts as soon as the election was proclaimed. This is in terms of ICASA regulations. This was confirmed in the media by ICASA on several occasions. 

The SABC’s excuses were shown up for what they always were: poor attempts to delay the adverts. Excuses ranging from their search for political party slots (not required for paid advertisements), to determining bizarrely if we were in fact a political party at all, demonstrated their desperation to block us at every turn.

Nevertheless, we are pleased that the SABC has capitulated and that our election adverts will be aired. We want this to happen as soon as possible, and we will be closely monitoring its progress. 

We reiterate again that should the adverts be delayed any further we reserve our rights to revive our complaint with ICASA. We will not stand by and allow censorship to prevent South Africans from hearing our offer of change. This is the change that will stop corruption, deliver better services and create jobs. 

Statement issued by Phumzile Van Damme MP, DA National Spokesperson, 5 June 2016