The DA has filed an urgent application in the South Gauteng High Court after the SABC said it would not be providing live coverage of the party's national congress in Nelson Mandela Bay.
DA national spokesperson, Phumzile Van Damme, said this was relayed to the party on Friday morning by SABC Chief Executive, Hlaudi Motsoaneng, after he met his management.
She said the SABC's withdrawal of its live coverage on public television is both contrary to the public interest and contrary to the SABC's own editorial policy.
Van Damme says the National Public Broadcaster must act with political impartiality and must not display bias in its live coverage decisions.
"Our position is that the SABC is publicly funded, it's a public broadcaster and it has an obligation to make sure that the coverage it provides is balanced and fair. The electoral congress of the main opposition party is an event of such importance that needs to be broadcasted on television and they have covered all our congresses live since 1997. The decision now is really nothing but political." says Van Damme.
