CASE NUMBER: 27/2006 – FAASEN VS SABC2 AND RADIOSONDERGRENSE – DEROGATORY TERM

The Complainant presented four related cases. The first concerned the screening on the SABC 2 programme, 50/50, on 19/03/06 of “The Price of Growth”, where the Khoisan people are referred to as “Bushmen”. He argued that the Khoisan people are perceived as “nature’s people”, equated with nature, and are not presented as fully human. They are negatively stereotyped, in a manner that amounts to an affront to their dignity as human beings. Moreover, the term “Bushman” was in 2002 singled out by President Mbeki as “derogatory”. The use of the term “Bushman” and the portrayal of the Khoisan people by the presenter of the programme “The Price of Growth” amounts to an assault on Khoisan dignity. The second complaint relates to the “uncontextualised” use of the term “Boesman” in the broadcast of Andre Brink’s novel, Bidsprinkaan, on Radio Sonder Grense. The Respondent argued that 50/50 does not focus exclusively on nature, and does not set out to label any group of people in a negative manner. In any event, the Bushmen are presented as an example of people who live in harmony with nature. There is, moreover, a worldwide interest in the survival of threatened traditional lifestyles and civilisations. The Bushmen are but one group that 50/50 has focused on in dealing with the subject of retaining identity in an increasingly urbanised world. The broadcaster cannot be held responsible for using a word that is in current usage, and it is not the broadcaster’s responsibility to decide on correct naming. Controversy continues to dog the use of the words Khoisan and Bushman, as is evident in the scientific and historical domains. The Tribunal decided that no infringement of Clause 38, which relates to dignity, occurred in either case. The same is true for two other cases brought before the Tribunal, though not dealt with directly by the Respondent (SABC2 25/05/06 “The Hunt for the Kalahari Truffle”, where the term “Bushman” was used; and Radio Sonder Grense, Monitor, 26/05/06, where a presenter asked a question relating to the San people). No contravention of the Code was found, and the complaint was not upheld.