The
Broadcasting Complaints Commission of South Africa (BCCSA) ruled in favour of
the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) in respect to a complaint
submitted by Thinus Ferreira regarding the news item that was broadcast on 02
November 2017 at 18H00.
Ferreira felt that the SABC’s News Division failed to produce and deliver a balanced, fair and accurate report of the ‘Black Monday’ protest.
In his complaint, he condemned the use of strong language, visuals of the old South African, AWB and German Swastika flags and questioned why the flags were shown.
According to SABC spokesman Kazier Kganyago, he said Ferreira further stated that the SABC spread wrong information and made an issue of national importance worse.
“The SABC disputed these claims, maintaining that the march was fairly covered and the focus of the story was about the actions of the protesters.
The story was angled to look at other aspects that had not been covered. Nowhere in the clip did the reporter or the Minister say the burning of the flag happened on that day,” he said in a statement.
Kganyago said the SABC would like to reassure its audiences of its unwavering commitment to deliver news that is well-researched, accurate and unbiased, without compromising its public mandate, integrity and editorial independence.