Former SABC presenter and producer Sylvia Vollenhoven loses court case over Project Spear documentary although SABC ordered to negotiate over buyback.

Sylvia Vollenhoven has lost her court case over copyright against the South African public broadcaster over the rights of the controversial documentary Project Spear she produced, although the Gauteng High Court ordered the SABC to start negotiating with her within 14 days over the possibility of a "buyback" of the rights.

Project Spear: Stolen Billions, Lies and Spies is a feature length documentary Sylvia Vollenhoven made for the SABC and that was commissioned by the SABC, detailing an alleged ex-MI6 spy who presented the South African government with a plan - dubbed Project Spear - to recover billions of rands misappropriated by apartheid-era bankers, officials and politicians from state coffers.

According to Project Spear, the ANC government allegedly refused to take any action despite being given a strategic plan to recover the stolen billions.

After the SABC refused to broadcast Project Spear in September 2012 as it said it would although it paid R559 169 to Sylvia Vollenhoven's production company VIA for it to be made, the former SABC presenter and veteran documentary maker Sylvia Vollenhoven was adamant to show it - which led to a court case.

Judge Lawrence Nowosenetz in the Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg has now issued a final interdict against Sylvia Vollenhoven, preventing her from broadcasting or distributing Project Spear or making an adaptation of it or offering it for hire or sale.

The court ruled that the Project Spear copyright belongs to the SABC - even if it decides not to show or do anything with Project Spear since the SABC commissioned the documentary.

Judge Lawrence Nowosenetz however also ordered the SABC to start negotiating within 14 days with Sylvia Vollenhoven over possibly buying back the rights to the Project Spear documentary.

Until now the SABC simply refused to negotiate with Sylvia Vollenhoven to adapt the material or sell it back to her.

Sylvia Vollenhoven - who argued that she was entitled to keep all the raw footage - also has 14 days to hand over all raw footage of the documentary to the SABC.

According to the judge, Sylvia Vollenhoven can still tell the Project Spear story - she's just not allowed to use any of the footage that was created and used for the SABC's Project Spear documentary she made.

SABC sues Noseweek, Sylvia Vollenhoven over Spear documentary; wants all material and research for unaired TV programme back.

The SABC is taking the investigative magazine Noseweek and Martin Welz, as well as the respected journalist Sylvia Vollenhoven to court, demanding that the material and research of an unaired on television documentary entitled Project Spear which the SABC payed for, be returned to the public broadcaster.

The SABC says Noseweek and Sylvia Vollenhoven don't have the right to screen the Project Spear documentary to small audiences since the documentary doesn't belong to them.

Noseweek and Sylvia Vollenhoven showed Project Spear at The Baxter theatre in Cape Town and earlier this year planned to show it at the Franchhoek Literary Festival but the SABC got an interdict to stop it.

The SABC commissioned Sylvia Vollenhoven to produce Project Spear a year and a half ago, but then abruptly told her that the documentary "was too sophisticated for SABC2's audience".

Project Spear is a feature length documentary detailing an alleged ex-MI6 spy who presented the South African government with a plan - dubbed Project Spear - to recover billions of rands misappropriated by apartheid-era bankers, officials and politicians from state coffers.

The SABC has now filed a case in the South Gauteng High Court demanding the return of all the footage and material as well as a DVD of the documentary.

On Thursday the SABC told TV with Thinus that "we owe this material. We have commissioned it and paid for it and we want all of it to be returned. We said to them you need to bring everything back to us. You don't have the right to own or show this. It's a matter of principle."

"People are making it sound as if it's about the content. This has got nothing to do with the content. The fact is it doesn't belong to them and they're showing it to people," said SABC spokesperson Kaizer Kgangayo.

"They can't show something which belongs to the SABC without the SABC giving permission. The SABC is going to court to compel them to bring back all the material and research."

PROJECT SPEAR: The film the SABC commissioned a year ago and which the South African public broadcaster now refuse to show.

The new February issue of the South African investigative magazine Noseweek has a must-read cover story headlined "The movie you need to see - but SABC dares not screen it".

The Noseweek article details the South African public broadcaster's refusal to broadcast a documentary film, Project Spear, the SABC commissioned itself, but which is critical of the ANC government.

Project Spear, produced by the respected TV reporter and filmmaker and former SABC face, Sylvia Vollenhoven, is a feature length documentary detailing an aleged ex-MI6 spy who presented the South African government with a plan - dubbed Project Spear - to recover billions of rands misappropriated by apartheid-era bankers, officials and politicians from state coffers.

According to Project Spear, the ANC government allegedly refused to take any action despite being given a strategic plan to recover the stolen billions.

According to the Noseweek article, Project Spear was produced for a new documentary strand Truth Be Told on SABC2.

According to Sylvia Vollenhoven, in April 2012 the SABC okayed the script.

Sylvia Vollenhoven tells Noseweek in the article that by September 2012, after the broadcaster was couriered a final edit of Project Spear, that Thando Shozi, the acting head of factual commissioning at the SABC, in an email told her that the film was "too sophisticated for an SABC2 audience".

In the email to Sylvia Vollenhoven, Thando Shozi allegedly also writes to her and says among other things, that: "The government is not going to take kindly to being asked, why are we walking away from recovery so much money?"

In the must-read Noseweek article in which Sylvia Vollenhoven goes into detail about the whole process, how it happened from her side, and gives her thoughts on how the SABC has changed, she tells how the Project Spear documentary which the SABC initially wanted, got sidelined.

She now says the SABC "has a responsibility to show this to the people". She's apparently also looking at trying to buy back the rights to the documentary and possibly taking it to other TV platforms such as e.tv or DStv.

I've asked the SABC if the public broadcaster has any comment, statement, or explanation from the public broadcaster's side on the Noseweek cover story. If there is a response from the SABC, I will bring it.