Cape Town -
The DA accused the SABC of censorship, saying the broadcaster had excluded it from a debate on land reform on Sunday night.
DA federal chairman Wilmot James said the national broadcaster had also told the party that it would be excluded from live debates over the next two weeks.
SABC spokesman Kaizer Kganyago dismissed the DA’s claims as untrue and said the party had so far participated in eight out of 11 debates the public broadcaster had hosted.
“The reality is that the ANC does not want to debate the DA on this (land) issue because they know they have failed millions of South Africans with their ineffective land restitution policy, while the DA-led Western Cape government has delivered some of the most comprehensive land reform projects.
“This unacceptable behaviour by the SABC seriously disadvantages the DA’s election campaign,” James said in a statement.
He said it was unacceptable that the DA, the official opposition to the ANC, was excluded from the debates.
Kganyago said the lack of an invitation to Sunday night’s debate was not about an intentional exclusion of the DA, but more about giving the other parties a chance to be heard as well.
“It is not true to say that the DA has been excluded from the debates, when they have attended more than half of it.
“Regarding the other debates, invitations have not been sent out yet, so they (the DA) can’t say they have been excluded,” Kganyago said.
James said the DA weighing its options to determine an appropriate course of action against the SABC.
Cape Times