by Thinus Ferreira
The controversial Nigerian televangelist prophet TB Joshua has reportedly died. He was 57.
TB Joshua was the founder of the Synagogue, Church of All Nations and the cause of his death is not yet known.
Synagogue, Church of All Nations runs the shocking Emmanuel TV (DStv 390) channel in Lagos, Nigeria that has been suspended by YouTube but that MultiChoice refuses to remove or to suspend from its pay-TV platform, saying it's a so-called "third party TV channel" and that its damaging content is outside of MultiChoice's control.
TB Joshua died on Saturday night shortly after ending a programme at his church.
TB Joshua, previously known as Balogun Francis, attended St. Stephen's Anglican Primary School in Arigidi Akoko, Nigeria, between 1971 and 1977, but failed to complete one year of secondary school education.
He worked in various casual jobs after his schooling had ended, including carrying chicken waste at a poultry farm. He organised Bible studies for local children and attended evening school during this period. He also tried but failed to join the Nigerian military. He later started a Christian ministry.
On The official TB Joshua Twitter account it says "The Synagogue, Church of All Nations and Emmanuel TV family appreciate your love, prayers and concern at this time and request a time of privacy for the family. Here are TB Joshua's last words: "Watch and pray."
In September 2014, a guesthouse collapsed in Lagos's Scoan Premises, killing at least 115 people, 84 of them were South Africans.
In April 2021 YouTube shut down TB Joshua's channel while Facebook removed some posts although MultiChoice refused to do anything and kept the controversial and damaging hate speech Emmanuel TV channel running on DStv.
Emmanuel TV has been broadcasting video of TB Joshua physically hitting and slapping people - including women as part of violent so-called "exorcisms" to "cure" gay and lesbian people by alleging to drive out "the demon of homosexuality".
YouTube said that its "community guidelines prohibit hate speech and we remove flagged videos and comments that violate these policies. In this case we have terminated the channel".
"YouTube prohibits content which alleges that someone is mentally ill, diseased, or inferior because of their membership in a protected group including sexual orientation."
Facebook removed posts saying "We don’t allow attacks against people based on their sexual orientation or gender identity, including content promoting conversion therapy services. We take attacks on the LGBT+ community incredibly seriously and encourage people to report this kind of content when they see it so we can investigate."
A Facebook spokesperson said that Facebook's hate speech policy "prohibits attacks against people based on their protected characteristics, which include sexual orientation and gender identity. This includes content promoting conversion therapy services which aim to change someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity".
Kaajal Ramjathan-Keogh, ICJ Africa director on 3 May in a strongly-worded letter urged the MultiChoice non-executive chairman Imtiaz Patel of the MultiChoice Group, and MultiChoice's board of directors to immediately suspend Emmanuel TV on any of the DStv platforms for the broadcasting of televangelist Pastor TB Joshua's multiple video clips depicting violent "conversion therapy" and hate speech against LGBT persons amounting to human rights abuses.
The ICJ says "The MultiChoice Group's actions are inconsistent with human rights law and standards, the South African Constitution and domestic legislation, which all proscribe discrimination based on sexual orientation".
A month later, on 4 June the ICJ said that it is shocked and disappointed in the response from the MultiChoice Group that says that it does not review the content broadcast on so-called "third-party channels" such as Emmanuel TV prior to its broadcast.
MultiChoice claims that instead of a thorough investigation, the pay-TV service contacted Emmanuel TV and that Emmanuel TV told DStv that its "conversion therapy" were not broadcast in April 2021.
Emmanuel TV didn't deny that the clips were aired and MultiChoice simply denied any responsibility to bother to investigate the shocking content it broadcasts on Emmanuel TV in South Africa and across sub-Saharan Africa.
The ICJ says "Contrary to the impression given in its letter to the ICJ, MultiChoice is not limited to investigating offensive broadcasts that are aired within a specific time period".
"Additionally, while the ICJ notes MultiChoice's assertion that Emmanuel TV is a third-party channel and consequently MultiChoice has no editorial control or oversight over the content of the channel, the ICJ believes that MultiChoice has a duty to not broadcast material that is discriminatory and in contravention of the South African Constitution".
"MultiChoice has a responsibility to conduct a serious investigation into this matter and take the necessary remedial action."
"Consequently, we do not find that Emmanuel TV’s confirmation to MultiChoice, that the clip was not broadcast during April 2021 is sufficient; and MultiChoice’s inability to verify whether this program was broadcast at all, is unsatisfactory."
"The ICJ is of the view that MultiChoice has a greater responsibility to the African audience to refrain from participating in the broadcast of such harmful practices, and must publicly take a stance against facilitating the airing of such broadcasts."
"The ICJ believes that MultiChoice’s responsibility as Africa's 'leading entertainment company' is not to pay lip service to the values of the South African Constitution, but rather to hold itself to higher thresholds of accountability."
The ICJ urges MultiChoice again to ICJ has consequently urged MultiChoice to "Independently investigate this and other discriminatory and potentially unlawful broadcasts by Emmanuel TV and take appropriate remedial measures".
The ICJ also implores MultiChoice to "Undertake to exclude Emmanuel TV as part of MultiChoice’s package to the public, or alternatively, to heavily condition its contract with Emmanuel TV to disallow the broadcast of offensive materials; should the investigation lead to the conclusion that the clip was broadcasted by them".
The ICJ says MultiChoice should "offer an apology to the LGBT persons, unless MultiChoice is able to demonstrate independently that the clip was not broadcast at all on their platform, neither by Emmanuel TV nor by any other third-party channel" and that MultiChoice should "undertake an updating of the MultiChoice Group's internal policies to bring them in line with human rights standards, the South African Constitution, and local laws on non-discrimination".
"This includes contractual arrangements with third party channels like Emmanuel TV which may broadcast discriminatory content."
