Radio woman Redi Tlhabi is allowed to critise
the South African government and can say that when it comes to government
leadership it looks like a case of the dumber the better.
In a case brought before the Broadcasting
Complaints Commission of South Africa (BCCSA), it ruled that Redi Tlhabi and
talk radio station 702 has the right to give her view in an open, democratic
society.
A listener, Esethu Hasane, spokesperson for
the department of sport and recreation, laid a complaint against Redi Tlhabi after
an open call-in segment on radio 702 in late January – the type of open line call-in's
now incidentally banned by the SABC for listeners who want to talk politics.
Redi Hasane, a university graduate working in
government, told the BCCSA that Redi Tlhabi's comment was offensive,
condescending and degrading to the dignity of the complainant. He said "commentators
get away with many things in the name of criticising president Zuma. They make
a living of criticising people but don't want to be critisiced".
Redi Tlhabi did the call-in segment after
president Jacob Zuma's shocking firing of Nhlanhla Nene as finance minister.
She referred to Zuma's statement in December 2015 in Mpumalanga that "the people
should not pay attention to people who talk too much on television because educated
black people think they are clever".
When a caller asked Redi Tlhabi why the South
African government doesn't consult intellectuals, Redi Tlhabi said that "they are
intimidated, they told them they are clever blacks and because somehow clever
people are dangerous to leadership, the dumber the better".
"I think they are
there, they're writing, they're speaking, they're joining protests, and all of
that and of course we have an anti-intellectual leadership".
Hasane took offense but the BCCSA found that
Redi Tlhabi's show is "aimed at sophisticated, intelligent members of the
public who are likely to know, understand and appreciate" that her comments are
often provocative and argumentative.
'Constitution
guarantees her freedom of expression'
Esethu Hasane lodged a case at the BCCSA, saying Redi Tlhabi's comments suggested that there is an absence of intellectuals in the
leadership of the country and that "the dumber the better" is the requirement
to be in that leadership.
"It can't be okay for a radio host to say 'the
dumber the better' about the leadership of our country like it was not okay for
that eNCA anchor [Andrew Barnes] to mock the minister's pronunciation of an
English word. I would imagine that if Redi was a white lady, she was not going
to get away with saying that the leadership of our country is dumb".
The BCCSA found that "Redi Tlhabi's comments
may have been offensive and elitist but the fact of the matter is that the
Constitution guarantees her freedom of expression to receive or impart
information or ideas".
"Inasmuch as Hasane has a constitutional
right to freedom of expression, so too does Redi Tlhabi enjoy the same right".
"The right to freedom of expression is not
dependent on the dissemanation of acceptable or rational ideas only; indeed it
extends to opinion or views that might be anathema to those who occupy
influential positions in society or in institutions," the BCCSA found.
The BCCSA found that the Redi Tlhabi's 702 programme
did not contravene the Broadcasting Code and the complaint was not upheld.
