It was more important than ever for the ANC and SABC to distinguish between government announcements and news, and blatant propaganda, party leader Pieter Mulder said in a statement.<\/p>\n
“The way the anniversary was broadcast live, made a mockery of every democratic rule,” he said.<\/p>\n
In the past the SABC had agreed to only televise speeches by the president when it involved government matters.<\/p>\n
During the celebrations in Polokwane Jacob Zuma had called up members of the ANC and given out awards for a number of achievements, Mulder said.<\/p>\n
“The president called party members up as if they were trophy winners, this is the complete opposite [to government matters].<\/p>\n
“The ANC is just as guilty of abuse as SABC TV is in the matter,” he said<\/p>\n
Mulder said the FF Plus was celebrating its “birthday” in March and the party was going to write a letter to the SABC asking it to broadcast it live.<\/p>\n
He said if the national broadcaster was going to televise the ANC’s celebrations it had to do it for other parties as well.<\/p>\n
“If what the SABC did today was a preview of this year’s [2011] media coverage then it is going to be a difficult year for opposition parties,” Mulder said.<\/p>\n