GAY LOBBY TACKLES SABC

The producer of the Tuesday Night Show, Maciek Mazur, together with six LGBTI organisations, will be meeting the SABC’s CEO in November and asking some hard questions. The Tuesday Night Show, in a Radio 2000 slot, was the only national lesbian and gay radio show in the country until the public broadcaster’s excessive demands on the producers led to the plug being pulled.

Mazure received considerable support from the LGBTI community after the show went off the air including letters of support, which will be presented at the meeting. In addition, the six NGOs issued a media statement demanding to know the rationale behind the SABC’s approach, and these questions will be put to SABC CEO Dali Mpofu:

1. Why Tuesday Nite Live seemed to have been treated as a problem case with bully tactics;
2. How the SABC as a public broadcaster aims to pluralise broadcast interests;
3. The reason behind imposing commercial rates on a marginalized community;
4. The failure of the SABC to identify alternative broadcast vehicles.

Mazur says that “the end goal is be back on the air. It’s immaterial if that’s on Radio 2000 or any other English speaking public service radio station. It’s important for the country to actually have a gay and lesbian show on air.”

Mambaonline has attempted to solicit comment from the SABC on the matter, with no response.

The members of the lobby group are: Behind the Mask; Durban Lesbian and Gay Community and Health Centre; Forum for the Empowerment of Women; Gay and Lesbian Archives and OUT LGBT Well-being; Triangle Project. In addition, UNISA Centre for Applied Psychology and UNISA Centre for Gender Studies are also supporting the group. Mazur has approached the Freedom of Expression Institute, which has expressed the possibility of “getting involved in the cause.”

The meeting with Dali Mpofu has been scheduled for early November.