Cape Town - Lawyers for the Democratic Alliance were on Friday evening arguing a high court application seeking to reverse decision by the SABC not to provide two hours of live coverage of the party’s elective congress in Port Elizabeth, said James Selfe, the chairman of the main opposition party’s federal council.
“They are on their feet in the Johannesburg (South Gauteng) High Court as we speak, “ Selfe told ANA from Port Elizabeth, as delegates gathered for the two-day congress.
He said the DA was seeking an order declaring the public broadcaster’s to renege on an undertaking to broadcast live from the conference venue from 10.30 to 12.30 on Saturday on SABC2 as being irrational and being in contravention of the Broadcasting Act.
Asked whether the SABC did not enjoy editorial independence, he said it did but noted that it was not an independent broadcaster but one operating within a statutory framework and the party believed that the elective congress of the official opposition was a matter of public interest.
James said SABC executives had undertaken on March 20 that the broadcaster would provide live coverage of the event. After Helen Zille announced in April that she would not seek re-election as party leader, the SABC expressed interest in providing further live coverage on Sunday, though it did not make a firm commitment to do so.
James said the DA did not see the SABC’s change of heart as vindicitive, though it is happening against the backdrop of the party’s legal battle to secure the suspension of SABC chief operating officer Hlaudi Motsoeneng in line with adverse findings against him by Public Protector Thuli Madonsela.
Instead, he said, the party saw it as a sign of the broadcaster being beholden to the Zuma administration.
“I think it is another manifestation of the capture of the State by (President) Jacob Zuma. They will do anything to promote the Zuma faction and limit the exposure of anybody else.”
He said the party was expecting a court decision late on Friday night as 1425 delegates gathered in Port Elizabeth to elect a new leader and federal chairman. The outcome will be known around lunchtime on Sunday.
DA parliamentary leader Mmusi Maimane is seen as likely to defeat outgoing federal chairman Wilmot James in the leadership contest, while Eastern Cape leader Athol Trollip is the favourite to become the next federal chairman.
ANA