Cape Town — UMkhonto weSizwe’s (MK) Party’s case against the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) will be heard on Thursday.
The party’s case is over the public broadcaster’s use of the term “Government of National Unity” (GNU) to describe the new government of the seventh administration. The party, as well as party leader, Jacob Zuma, has repeatedly asked the SABC to stop and wants the SABC’s conduct to be declared unconstitutional, EWN reported.
The case was originally filed in July and was put before the High Court briefly today but the court heard that, as a result of SABC filing an overnight answering affidavit, the party will now need more time to submit a replying affidavit.
Zuma and MK committed to file a reply by midday on Wednesday, and the parties have agreed to file arguments by 6pm on Wednesday.
Former president Jacob Zuma and the MK party want the courts to declare the SABC’s refusal to stop using the phrase ‘Government of National Unity’ unlawful and unconstitutional. The case was filed on an urgent basis last month. Newzroom Afrika’s @JuniourKhumalo_ has more.
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According to The Citizen, the MK Party said the SABC had misled the public in its use of GNU.
Zuma said the SABC was an “organ of the state” and should not copy the African National Congress (ANC) over the labelling of the GNU.
The former SA leader said that experts warned the SABC about the continued use of the incorrect name.
[ NEWS JUST IN] Matter between MK Party and the biased public broadcaster (SABC) has been postponed to Thursday to allow the MK Party to respond to answering affidavits and for heads of argument 🤔 pic.twitter.com/ALE8XgeRqz
— The Special one🇿🇦 (@Nhleiks5) August 13, 2024
In response, the SABC’s CEO, Nomsa Chabeli, said the MK tried to impugn the public broadcaster’s use of the phrase GNU to describe the majority government.
“The applicants have brought this application on an urgent basis. However, the applicants do not satisfy the requirements for bringing an urgent application in terms of rule 6(12) of the Uniform Rules of Court,” Chabeli said.
The case has been postponed until Thursday morning for a hearing.
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Compiled by Matthew Petersen
