Tshwane: SABC gets a breather

2005-05-23 22:13

Johannesburg - The Broadcasting Complaints Commission reserved judgment on Monday on whether the SABC was misleading the public by referring to Tshwane, instead of Pretoria, in radio and television broadcasts.

The two-hour hearing at the BCC's offices in Hyde Park, Johannesburg, on Monday afternoon followed complaints by viewers and political parties that the SABC had contravened the broadcasting code.

They argued there was no such geographical place as the City Tshwane - yet.

All there was, at this stage, was an application before the SA Geographical Names Council (SAGNC) to designate as Tshwane a geographical area encompassing the cities of Pretoria, Centurion, Akasia and Mamelodi.

Was using names interchangeably

The complainants claimed that since the metro began steps to have the name Tshwane registered with the SAGNC, that the SABC had started using Tshwane, City of Tshwane or Pretoria interchangeably in its broadcasts.

Anton Alberts, counsel for the Freedom Front Plus, told the five-member commission: "The SABC thought it well to use the name Tshwane and broadcast it as if it replaced the name Pretoria."

He argued that any change in the name of Pretoria should only come "from the highest level of legislative power of South Africa".

The Democratic Alliance's Desiree van der Walt said: "I believe you can refer to a town or a city only if it is registered as (such at) the title deeds office. If it is not registered, it does not exist.

"Pretoria is still Pretoria," she said.

Ordered to withdraw advertising

It was as if, on learning of the complaints to the BCC, the SABC had out of "spite" purposefully begun to use the term Tshwane more and more, she charged.

The Advertising Standards Authority earlier this month ordered the Tshwane metropolitan council to withdraw, as misleading, an advertising campaign referring to Pretoria as the "City of Tshwane", she pointed out.

The SABC, however, has denied breaching the BCC code, maintaining that its use of the name Tshwane is not a distortion, an exaggeration or a misrepresentation.

There was nothing preventing the SABC from using the name before its approval by the minister of arts and culture, argued SABC counsel Omphemetse Mooki.

It was not unlawful, and consequently the BCC did not have authority to prevent the SABC from using the name Tshwane he said, further arguing that use of the term fell within the right to freedom of expression.

It had not been suggested that the SABC was "bending the ears" of the council by indicating there was a preferred recommendation it should make, he submitted.

Mooki contended that the area of Pretoria had also always been known as Tshwane, but "simply by dint of history" had not enjoyed Pretoria's significance.

- SAPA