The Muslim Judicial Council (MJC) and Deen TV, an Islamic TV channel on TopTV, have added their voices against TopTV's porn plans and the South African pay-TV service which intends to start three pornographic TV channels as a separate bouquet on its platform if it gets regulatory approval.
The MJC and Deen TV joined the chorus of resistance to On Digital Media's (ODM) proposed porn bouquet.
The proposed sex channels - TopTV's second attempt to introduce such a bouquet, the first attempt which was denied by South Africa's broadcasting regulator a year ago - already met with widespread opposition from groups such as Women and Men Against Child Abuse (WMACA), Doctors for Life and a national boycott of TopTV and its advertisers called by the Family Policy Institute (FPI).
The national boycott of TopTV which has about 400 000 subscribers is supported by the Apostolic Faith Mission of South Africa, Assemblies of God of South Africa, the Baptist Union of South Africa, the Southern African Catholic Bishops Conference, the Church of England in South Africa, the Dutch Reformed Church, the Full Gospel Church of South Africa, the Methodist Church of Southern Africa, the Evangelical Alliance of South Africa, and the Association of Vineyard Churches in South Africa.
TopTV appeared last month before South Africa's broadcasting regulator, the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) on a public hearing over TopTV's application for authorisation for the separate bouquet of porn channels.
TopTV wants to broadcast the three TV channels - Playboy TV, Desire TV and Private Spice - as a separate bouquet and with a rating classification of R18. The channels are provided to TopTV by Playboy TV UK / Benelux Limited in England and would be uplinked through SES Platform Services in Munich, Germany to South Africa.
Icasa is still in deliberation over TopTV's porn application. TopTV is currently in business rescue and told Icasa in its application that "our ability to offer certain of our subscribers the channels that form the subject of this application, would help greatly in our attempts to take the business to a sustainable future."
"As an Islamic judicial body, the Muslim Judicial Council objects to TopTV's application and intention to introduce three 24-hour pornographic channels in South Africa,” the MJC says.
"We thus fully support the call for a boycott made against TopTV, its advertising agents and sponsors. We further condemn TopTV for promoting destructive material in order to save itself from impending financial ruin," says the MJC.
"As a community, we have a responsibility to protect our mothers, fathers, daughters and sons from destructive material which could inadvertently lead to them being the victims of society's failure to maintain the dignity, respect and honour of central figures in society, our women," says the MJC.
"Women play a fundamental role in society, therefore the well-being of a woman is directly linked to the progress and cultivation of every member of that society. Pornography is counterproductive to values promoted in civilised democratic societies that promote the rights of child equality and preservation of the dignity of all members belonging to that society," says the MJC.
Deen TV, an Islamic TV channel on TopTV's bouquet, is also against the TopTV's porn plan and against pornographic content being made available on the pay-TV platform. Deen TV is not in favour of a ban of TopTV in its entirety since its the platform the channel is made available on, but Deen TV is against the possible introduction of the separate porn bouquet of channels on TopTV.
"We have advised them that this is not where we want to be going. TopTV is an operation of its own that houses these channels and we have related to them that we do not support their decision to do so."
