Complaints were received with regard to a remark which a presenter on Jacaranda 94.2 radio made 
after the news on the morning of 4 January 2012, when the 95% matric pass rate for private schools that fall under the Beweging vir Christelik-Volkseie Onderwys (BCVO) was conveyed. The complainants, acting on behalf of the children at the BCVO schools who wrote the 2011 matric exam, complained to the BCCSA about the following remark made by a presenter after the splendid matric results were broadcast during the news. The standard of the examination complies with the standards approved by the official body Umalusi.
The complaint read as follows: We are very upset about comments that Rian van Heerden made this morning after the seven o’clock news BCVO. It was after the news about BCVO’s 95 % matric pass rate. He said that the matrics of the right wingers only had to answer two questions to pass, namely:
“Wie is Hendrik French Verwoerd? Answer: “Eerste minister” – correct
- “Wie regeer die land? Answer: Die kommuniste – and if they did spell communists correctly they obtained a distinction.
It was held that neither satire nor the attempt at a joke could save the remark which defamed the matriculants at the schools.
The radio station was accordingly held to have breached the Broadcasting Code when, on 4 January 2012, it belittled the academic standards of BCVO matriculants. Their exam, which had a 95% pass rate, had met with official approval and complied with the highest national standards. Poking fun at the academic standards achieved by the learners was therefore unjust.
The radio station was directed to broadcast an apology over the news twice before 31 March 2012.
CLICK TO VIEW FULL JUDGMENT Case-No-02-2012