President Jacob Zuma. CC image courtesy of the World Economic Forum.
The South African Broadcasting Corporation’s (SABC) purpose is protect President Zuma from accountability for his actions, according to Helen Zille, leader of opposition party the Democratic Alliance.
Zille’s comments were made in response to the SABC pulling a DA advert that was part of its election campaign.
HumanIPO reported last week the public broadcaster had removed the party’s “Ayisafani” advertisement.
In the commercial, the DA claims the African National Congress (ANC) is “corrupt” and “for the connected few”, and shows images of President Zuma’s Nkandla estate, police brutality and unemployed South Africans, but the SABC has chosen to stop airing it.
The DA said the SABC is publicly-owned, and therefore should not serve individual parties the way it once did during apartheid
Zille said the SABC only exists to protect Jacob Zuma and those who owe their positions and wealth to him.
“The SABC’s censorship proves our point. The ANC is in a panic… But tragically the SABC remains the same as always: His Master’s Voice,” Zille said.
She said the advertisement was removed because the SABC claimed it “incites violence against police”, contains false information relating to Nkandla and the Advertising Standards Authority of South Africa (ASA) does not permit attacking one product to attack another.
However, in its complaint the DA said the ASA code expressly excludes political advertising, while it also said the scenes of police brutality were justified.
“The fact that police shoot citizens is a fact and people see that every day. It has been broadcast on the news before. So why censor a DA ad which contains a photo of a policeman shooting protesters at Bekkersdal?” Zille said.
