CASE NO: 23/2010 – BERRY VS 567 CAPE TALK – BESTIALITY

A complaint was received against 567 Cape Talk segment called “The Week that Wasn’t” where a guest presenter in a programme explicitly describes a bestiality scene from a DSTV programme called Kenny vs Spenny. The guest presenter explicitly describes the sexual scene to the listeners and he even adds his own words of encouragement for the goat to take the person on. The Tribunal considered the complaint in terms of clause 28 of the Broadcasting Code. In this clause the words “scene or scenes” are used in the context that they are prohibited when they depict explicit violent sexual conduct, bestiality, etc. With reference to three previous cases before the Tribunal when the meaning of the words “scene or scenes” had to be interpreted, the Tribunal decided that it is not limited to visual scenes: a description of  bestiality could constitute a contravention of clause 28. In this instance such contravention was found and the complaint upheld. A fine of R10 000 was imposed.