The Economic Freedom Fighters has accused the SABC of being biased against it and marginalising them in their news coverage during the 2014 elections. It led to the banning of the party’s coverage.
The party also decried what it called the influence of the ANC on the SABC.
The EFF made its submission to the SABC Commission of Enquiry into editorial interference sitting in Johannesburg on Monday.
According the EFF there has been attempts by the ANC to influence the SABC in its news coverage.
Presenting the party’s submission, EFF’s national spokesperson cited the 2014 elections period in which he said the EFF was completely discriminated against.
In his presentation Mbuyiseni Ndlozi said the banning of the EFF’s coverage during that time was a direct assault on the Constitution of the country. “EFF has been deliberately marginalised; something we placed on the shoulders of the then acting head of news.”
Ndlozi says Hlaudi Motsoeneng would explicitly ask the EFF to retract its criticism in parliament of the Communications Committee in exchange for more coverage. But they did not retreat.
Ndlozi said former head of television news, Jimmy Mathews, went on record stating that the EFF should be banned.
He added that Mathews confessed after leaving the SABC that a conscious decision was taken not to cover the EFF during the 2014 poll.
He says the explanation of the banning of the EFF was something they were observing and confirmed by Mathews that they facilitated a banning of the EFF in the news bulletins.
But it said later in 2016 local government elections coverage of the party had shown some improvement better than what it was in 2014.
He said there were other allegations on having influence on the SABC but was not tested and they are told that they were directives from the ANC.
Meanwhile, the EFF also lambasted the ANC’s call for more airtime coverage. Ndlozi said the idea that a dominant party should get more coverage was a fascist attitude aimed at turning the SABC into a state broadcaster.
He says the SABC should remain independent. The party also raised concerns on what they called editorial practices which open up the SABC for manipulation and interference.
The Commission Chair said until last Thursday, the hearings were in-camera and that an agreement had been reached that some of the commission’s hearings will be open.
