Protests expected at the SABC
The removal of SABC COO Hlaudi Motsoeneng and an end to “censorship” is what the Right2Know Campaign will be protesting for when its members gather outside the public broadcaster’s offices on Monday.
The organisations and its allies will protest outside SABC offices in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban from 10:00.
Motsoeneng has recently come under fire after banning visuals of violent public protests from being broadcast on SABC.
Supporters of the protest said the SABC was supposed to enjoy freedom of expression and journalistic, creative and programming independence.
“The ban on protest coverage is reminiscent of the SABC when it was a mouthpiece of the Afrikaner nationalist government and sought to plaster over the ugly realities of apartheid and censor the people’s struggle,” the campaign said in a statement.
“Violence and destruction often accompany these protests, but it is not the role of a public broadcaster to gloss over events and try to fool audiences into believing that everything is rosy.”
The SOS Coalition, Media Monitoring Africa and the Freedom of Expression Institute lodged a complaint with the Independent Communications Authority of SA over the protest ban decision.
The Right2Know Campaign’s memorandum called for Motsoeneng’s removal, an end to censorship and the withdrawal of SABC’s revised editorial policy.
It said the broadcaster should expect further mass action until the campaign’s demands are met.
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