''This is a response to TopTV's decision to show porn through their network. Never again will I be a part of TopTV. I have a moral obligation to protect my children or anyone else for that matter from the sickening route you guys have chosen to follow.''
So writes Selwyn Lloyd who also shows a picture of his crushed TopTV decoder. He is one of a constant stream of irate people and subscribers now blasting the South African pay TV operator on social media, whose CEO Vino Govender - when TopTV launched commercially in May 2010 - said would not carry any adult channels as the TV industry refers to them.
The operator which recently signed a carriage agreement with Playboy TV for a separate new bouquet it calls its ''Adult Pack'' has not expanded its family bouquet in 2011 and has added no new general commercial channels to its available bouquet this year.
TopTV is now getting its reputation damaged under a torrent of criticism from the public and subscribers on social media. TopTV's ''likes'' on the operator's official Facebook have jumped from around 13 000 to over 18 000 within seven days just so that people can comment.
This comes after TopTV revealed plans to start a separate package of pornographic TV channels – three Playboy TV channels with an R18 rating. TopTV wants to make this available as a separate stand-alone subscription package for R199 per month for the three 24 hour channels to subscribers who want it.
In a TopTV letter to subscribers the pay TV operator wrote that ''TopTV will begin broadcast of three Playboy adult channels on the 20 December 2011.'' The letter with the date of 20 December was also posted by TopTV on its official Facebook page yesterday. Yesterday TopTV's senior manager of regulatory affairs, Thato Mahapa said TopTV ''hope to launch this month still''.
Shortly thereafter, TopTV's official spokesperson Melinda O'Connor said ''we can confirm that we will not be launching in December. We will announce the launch date closer to the time.''
TopTV does not have a certificate of authorisation to start this separate Adult Pack package from the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) which regulates broadcasting in the country. No date for a public hearing – the next step – has been announced by Icasa.
TopTV explains the separate Playboy porn package in the letter to subscribers and says ''while adult content on TV remains a contentious issue, adult material produced in South Africa and elsewhere is widely available on cellphones, the internet, DVDs and magazines. TopTV is offering an adult content package to this selected audience in a highly secure and responsible environment to ensure that it does not impinge in any way on the viewing options of current TopTV subscribers.''
Meanwhile a floodgate of criticism is being levelled against TopTV on its official Facebook page. Some people have accused TopTV of deleting their posts but said they will keep on posting. TopTV denies this and says posts are not being deleted except for vulgar language and that the company is allowing ''everyone to have their say''.
