by Thinus Ferreira
A DStv subscriber's complaint about nudity and bare-breasted women depicted in Mzansi Magic's new Sunday night drama series Shaka iLembe has been dismissed by the Broadcasting Complains Commission of South Africa (BCCSA).
While MultiChoice's M-Net channels like M-Net (DStv 101) and its streamer Showmax have been showing bare breasts, buttocks and also an increasing number of male genitals over the past few years in American series - notably from HBO - there haven't been complaints until women with bare breasts appeared in a locally-produced series.
The BCCSA received a complaint from a DStv viewer about the female breasts on display in Shaka iLembe trailers shown on the pay-TV service and dismissed the complaint.
MultiChoice said the promos for Shaka iLembe were all scheduled and shown late at night after the so-called "watershed period" for pay-TV after content aimed at adult audiences can be shown and when children are less likely to be watching television.
"Further, in line with classification guidelines, if the nudity is in cultural context, no nudity
warning is required. The overall age restriction for the series is 16," a MultiChoice spokesperson told TVwithThinus in response to a media query.
Hlonipha Mokoena, associate professor at the Wits Institute for Social & Economic Research (WiSER), one of the academics who was involved in Shaka iLembe, says "It was to be expected that on seeing the first episode of Shaka Ilembe some viewers would feel discomfort at the sight of the style of clothing that we have used to represent Zulu/Nguni culture".
"From our initial discussions about the
series after extensive consultation with the lead cast, we made a policy
decision that whilst we wanted to be authentic in representing the period, no
actor or actress would be forced to reveal their body if it made them feel
uncomfortable or exploited."
"The decision was also that no actor or actress
would be denied a part in Shaka Ilembe if they decided that they didn't want to
show their body. We followed that policy in the making of the series."
