The DA says the Broadcasting Complaints Commission of South Africa (BCCSA) had acceded to its request that a tribunal be set-up to handle the party’s complaint against the SABC's airing of a video of the ANC President Cyril Ramaphosa.
The SABC had aired a video of Ramaphosa announcing an ANC position on land expropriation without compensation last month. The DA said opposition parties were denied the same opportunity.
"The DA is of the view that the SABC contravened Section 13(1) of the BCCSA Code of Conduct when it accepted a packaged video from the ANC, interrupted normal programming to air the recording, and then denied opposition parties the opportunity to do the same," said DA MP Phumzile Van Damme and spokesperson on Communications.
She said the public broadcaster had acted in a biased manner, adding that the the party "is of the view that only a tribunal will be suitable to deal with this matter".
The tribunal, she said, will begin on Wednesday, 5 September 2018, at 9.30 am in the commission's offices.
"The tribunal will be open to the public and representatives from both the DA and the public broadcaster will be provided with an opportunity to make submissions. The DA looks forward to meeting the SABC at the Tribunal as this is indeed an unprecedented moment in the broadcaster’s history," Van Damme said.
"It would seem as though the Ramaphosa administration is as determined as the Zuma administration to turn the SABC into its mouthpiece. The public broadcaster must at all times adhere to its mandate of informing the public without fear or favour."