by Thinus Ferreira
kykNET is reacting with shock and surprise that its system of background checks into reality show participants failed to find the criminal record of a Boer Soek 'n Vrou farmer for physical assault of a woman, with kykNET saying an investigation has now started into the serious flaw and that it strongly condemns gender-based violence.
The latest issue of Huisgenoot magazine on Friday reported that the Boer Soek 'n Vrou ostrich farmer in Oudtshoorn, Francois Fourie (51) has a criminal record on the police computer system for physical assault which he didn't reveal to the producers.
Wolflight which produces the Afrikaans Boer Soek 'n Vrou according to the Fremantle format, wasn't aware that Francois Fourie had physically attacked a woman.
Francois Fourie admitted guilt and paid a fine with police records showing he was involved in a case of physical assault in 2013 in which he used his hands to "strike, hit, beat" a woman.
Fourie couldn't immediately be reached on Friday for comment but admitted to Huisgenoot in a sit-down interview that he was involved in a fight with an unnamed woman and that he "pushed and shoved a little here and there". He says he wasn't aware at the time that he was paying a fine as an admission of guilt of physical assault.
The failure to pick up the criminal record is raising red flags for M-Net's system of background checks, as well as its so-called duty-of-care policy which sets out guidelines for content makers to keeping contestants and participants in reality shows safe and out of harm's way.
kykNET on Friday told TVwithThinus that the M-Net channel as well as the production company conduct "thorough background checks on all the participants of each season of
our reality-TV shows" and that contestants are also obliged to declare any criminal charges laid
against them.
According to kykNET, the correctness of information supplied by all participants - including
both the farmers and potential romantic matches - is verified by an independent assessment
company which collects and compares information from various
platforms, including the database of the South African Police Service (SAPS), the Company
and Intellectual Property Commission, as well as the department of home affairs.
kykNET says that during the vetting process for Boer Soek ‘n Vrou in 2022 no
criminal record or any payment of a fine that would constitute an admission of
guilt was found for Francois Fourie and that the channel became aware of the R200 fine over the 2013 assault earlier this month.
The channel "immediately conducted an investigation into this matter".
kykNET tells TVwithThinus that the independent company which conducts background checks on its reality
TV shows is in the process of conducting an investigation to determine why Francois Fourie's criminal record wasn't detected last year "to ensure that this does not happen again in
the future".
"kykNET advocates for the safety of not only the public and our
viewers but also our co-workers, which includes all the participants in our TV
programmes. Gender-based violence has no place in our society and we condemn
any acts of violence in the strongest terms," the channel says.