A complaint was received regarding a viewer competition that offered a prize to viewers who sent an SM
S to a certain number. Later on during the programme, it emerged, however, that only clients of a certain bank, i.e. Nedbank, stood a chance of winning the prize. The Complainant is not a client of Nedbank. The SABC conceded that it had made an error.
Held: Although there was no reason to doubt the integrity of the SABC in this matter, an error had been made in not informing the viewers beforehand of the competition conditions.
The contravention was a serious one. Accordingly, a fine was regarded as appropriate in the circumstances. However, since the contravention was not intentional, and this was the first time that the SABC was held to have transgressed this provision of the BCCSA Code, a fine of R10 000 was imposed.