by Thinus Ferreira
The Broadcasting Complaints Commission of South Africa (BCCSA) has received multiple complaints about the alleged homophobic broadcast of Phat Joe's new TV dinner show on M-Net's 1Magic (DStv 103) channel while MultiChoice is shying away from directly answering questions about why the content has been allowed to air.
In Majota Kambule's (known as Phat Joe) latest TV show, Cheeky Palate, produced by Connect TV with Basetsana Kumalo as executive producer that was broadcast Friday night, the host's TV dinner guests like former beauty queen Gerry Rantseli Elsdon and Joshua Maponga made utterances condemning homosexuality as sinful.
Neither the show nor 1Magic offered any counterpoint or balance during the broadcast that quickly veered into homophobia. Other guests in the episode included Nobuntu Webster, Gogo Dineo and Zwai Bala. Phat Joe himself was suspended in 2019 from his Radio 2000 show over homophobic comments.
The BCCSA told TVwithThinus on Tuesday that it had received 5 complaints so far about Cheeky Palate and that these have been submitted to MultiChoice and M-Net who will now have to provide a copy of the broadcast and their comment.
By Tuesday it appeared as if the episode was abruptly removed from MultiChoice's DStv Now Catch Up service.
It's not clear whether the repeats of Cheeky Palate have been pulled from the 1Magic schedule and MultiChoic that was asked if rebroadcasts on the channel have been removed, didn't answer the question.
A media enquiry to 1Magic, an in-house produced channel by M-Net, was passed to MultiChoice.
MulticChoice in response to the media enquiry said that "The first episode featured guests from different walks of life, who were invited to speak to their experiences and thoughts on spirituality".
"We acknowledge concerns expressed by some viewers who may have been offended by some of the views expressed on the show, particularly around the LGBTIQ+ community. The views expressed are not those of MultiChoice which embraces diversity, equality and inclusion."
MultiChoice was also asked why M-Net broadcasts homophobic comments like those that were expressed on its airwaves in Cheeky Palate and why the decision was made not to include balance to the viewpoints aired.
MultiChoice was also asked whether the show and episode of Cheeky Palate in question remain on the schedule but MultiChoice chose not to give specific answers to these questions.
