CASE NUMBER: 34/2002 – DE VILLIERS AND OTHERS VS etv – NUDITY

The Respondent Broadcaster broadcast a documentary at 20:0. The subject was on switching sexual partners (“swinging”) at a club. Several complaints were received that the programme should not have been broadcast or that the programme was too early and that the classification was inappropriate given the time of the broadcast. BCCSA holding that the programme amounted to a bona fide documentary and that although it might have been prudent to have broadcast the programme at or after 20:30, the Commission came to the conclusion that a clear cut case for such later timing could not be made, given the critical stance taken by the presenter  and the fact that the  sexual material was not explicit. The complaints were dismissed.