Johannesburg -
The EFF and its president Julius Malema will march to the SABC in Johannesburg on Tuesday to protest over what it calls the SABC's “ban” on showing its election advertisement, the party said.
Spokesman Mbuyiseni Ndlozi said they would march at 10am to the public broadcaster's offices in Auckland Park.
On Saturday, the Independent Communications Authority of SA's (Icasa) complaints and compliance committee ruled for the SABC by upholding the broadcaster's decision not to flight the Economic Freedom Fighter's advert.
“The CCC ruled that the (advert) may be perceived as condoning or lending support to unlawful acts, in that, it talks about destroying e-tolls which would be perceived as damage to property,” Icasa spokesman Paseka Maleka said.
On Saturday, Malema said at an election rally in Durban that he considered the SABC's actions as an example of how South Africans were not free to express themselves.
During the Icasa hearing the SABC's counsel the EFF had refused to change the advert.
The advert, mostly in black and white, is entitled “Now is the time for economic freedom” and was also posted on YouTube.
The section in contention is a slogan at the end: “destroy e-tolls physically!”.
SABC spokesman Kaizer Kganyago said on Saturday that the SABC rejected the advert because it contravened section 4(12)(b) of Icasa's regulations on party election broadcasts (PEB) in that the advert contained words which were likely to provoke or incite unlawful, illegal or criminal acts.
Icasa has had to adjudicate two other complaints relating to a Democratic Alliance's advert.
The SABC said the advert would incite violence against the police and the SA Police Service also filed a complaint saying the same thing.
During the advert the DA's Gauteng premier candidate Mmusi Maimane says: “the police are killing our people”, as a photo of a police officer firing rubber bullets at two unarmed people is shown.
The SAPS complaint was upheld on Friday night and the DA was told by Icasa to remove the “offending part” of the advert.
It launched a second one on Monday, which focuses on job creation and does not have the clip. - Sapa