CASE NO: 22/2013 – LORGAT VS SABC – SAFM – RIGHT TO REPLY

Tribunal holding:

that the “public importance” (public interest) requirement in clauses 12 and 13 of the Free-to-Air Broadcasting Code is, in the main, directed at debates on   South African issues;

• that a Complainant only has locus standi in regard to the right to reply in clause 13 of the Code where his complaint is that he was not afforded such a right; and 
• that the Complainant had not made out a case that the broadcast was of public importance in South Africa and that he, in so far as the right to reply was concerned, had not claimed such a right for himself.

 Complaint, accordingly, not upheld.