The organizer of a rodeo complained that he had not been afforded sufficient time on a panel televisiondiscussion which took place on air. The original debate in which he took part lasted much longer and thereby his point of view was not covered fully when the discussion was ultimately broadcast.

The Tribunal (by way of the casting vote of the Chairperson) held that the Complainant was afforded a fair opportunity to put his view and that it was not necessary to have included other material that had originally formed part of the discussion. Viewers were afforded the opportunity to hear both views, and they could make up their own minds. It was not necessary to deal with other aspects of the programme, since the complaint was limited to the interview as broadcast. The core issues that came to the fore in the programme, judged as a whole, were covered. 

The minority view (Commissioners Melville and Linington) was that the complaint was not limited to the panel discussion and that, judged as a whole, the programme did not treat the rodeo organizers fairly and that the SABC had, accordingly, contravened the Broadcasting Code.

[2012] JOL 29531 (BCCSA)

CLICK TO VIEW FULL JUDGMENT  Case-No-43-2012