CASE NO: 03/2009 – FOUNDATION FOR EQUALITY BEFORE THE LAW VS SAB3 – BALANCE

A complaint was lodged against the first of two programmes commemorating the tenth anniversary of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The complaint was that the programme, which dealt with a controversial issue of public importance, created a one-sided impression that the officers of the security forces were the only ones who committed atrocities during the armed struggle, and that the officers attempted to prevent the victims of such atrocities from giving evidence against them during the TRC hearings.  Viewed in context, it appeared that the programme basically dealt with 3 amnesty applications out of a total of 7 126.  In these 3 applications, officers of the apartheid security forces acknowledged guilt for the atrocities committed.  The programme went on to suggest that the officers of the security forces tried to prevent the victims of the atrocities from giving evidence against them at the TRC hearings.  The Complainant referred to the Appeal Court (as it was then known) decision in favour of the officers of the security force that the TRC should have given the officers reasonable and timeous notice that evidence was about to be given against them, and that they should have been given sufficient information in order to protect their rights.  The programme failed to mention this and to put the matter in perspective.  The programme also contained an interview with Dirk Coetzee in which Coetzee states what he would have said had he not been prevented from giving evidence before the TRC.  The clear suggestion is that he was prevented from giving evidence by the officers of the security force, which is not true, as appears from the Appeal Court case.  The Tribunal found that a one-sided impression was created in the programme, and that there was not sufficient balance in the programme dealing with controversial issues of public importance.  The Broadcaster was reprimanded for contravening clause 36 of the Code of Conduct.