Hundreds expected at SABC protest

Hundreds of protestors are expected to converge tomorrow, Friday, 13 April 2007, outside the headquarters of the South African Broadcasting Corporation in Auckland Park, Johannesburg. The protest is being organised by the Freedom of Expression Institute’s Communication Rights Campaign, with the support of a number of community and media-related organisations.

12 Apr 2007

There has been widespread dissatisfaction about the role of the SABC as a public broadcaster, with many complaints that, in fact, the transformation from state to public broadcaster had not taken place, says the FXI. This dissatisfaction reached a climax late last year with the release of the report of the Sisulu commission of enquiry which investigated accusations of blacklisting at the SABC.

Members of the public from virtually all sectors of South African society have become concerned about the SABC. That concern will crystallise on Friday, when protestors will form a human chain around the SABC’s Radio Park building, responding to the slogans ‘Our SABC’ and ‘Free the SABC’.

The protestors will be calling on the SABC to fulfil its mandate and responsibilities to the South African public in terms of:

the South African Constitution,
the Broadcasting Act,
SABC’s licence conditions and
SABC’s editorial policies.

According to the FXI, over the past year, we have seen the broadcaster violate all of these.

Over the past few weeks, the FXI has organised smaller pickets outside SABC offices in Johannesburg, Durban, Cape Town and Polokwane. Friday’s action will be a culmination of these efforts and promises to draw a broad cross section of South African society.

The protest will take place at Henley Road and protestors will gather outside the Radio Park building at 2pm. After a few speeches, they will form a human chain around the SABC’s head office. The protest will end at 4pm.