SABC ban on protests constitutes censorship: SANEF
The SA National Editors' Forum has slammed the decision by the SABC to slap a ban on the broadcast of footage showing the destruction of property during protests..
The SABC's Hlaudi Motsoeneng has appealed to other media outlets including print to follow suit.
SANEF's Raymond Louw says the move should be condemned.
"It is an outrageous decision by the SABC because it constitutes censorship in preventing the public from knowing important information of what's happening in the community. For them to decide that they are not going to publicise that type of news is to be condemned.
"And I think that the intention to request new spaces to do likewise is equally outrageous. I doubt whether newspapers are going to abide by the request. What they will do I think is reject it out of hand," he said.
SABC spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago explains the decision.
"We believe that we cannot be encouraging such kind of behaviour. As much as we will continue to cover the protest, we are not going to show footage were people are destroying property because we feel that it is encouraging them to continue," he said.
(File photo)