PE community TV station complains to police commissioner

01 Feb 2016 | Admin Author

Community television station, Bay TV, says it has lodged a formal complaint with the national police commissioner for allegedly being forced by police to hand over footage of the murder of a Somali national in Port Elizabeth.

In a statement today, Bay TV, said that it is not an information gathering desk for the police and that the media should not be forced to produce evidence for the police.

Deputy station manager, Lungile Nduvane, says they had been forced to hand over the graphic footage of residents of Booysens Park bludgeoning a Somali national to death during recent unrest in the area.

Provincial police spokesperson, brigadier Marinda Mills, declined to comment as the matter could have legal implications.

Read the full Bay TV statement below:

Press Statement
19 June 2013
Background

On 30th May 2013 Baytv crew covered a story in Booysens Park. We
managed to capture graphic video footage of residents bludgeoning Somalis to death. We managed to do this with the help of our sources. The Baytv crew captured the incidents where Somalis were brutally attacked by the community members. Information which has not been seen on or flighted by other channels.

The possession of these visuals has caused Baytv journalists to be subjects of constant harassment by the police. This they have done with heavy-handedness.
Police from the task team unit, gate-crashed into our studios and coerced journalists into submitting a tape to them. They were armed with a search warrant and a court order.

Instead of conducting their own investigations police officers came to our studios and ordered the crew to surrender the video footage of the incident.
The conduct of the police was a demand without negotiation that we hand to them the tapes. The conduct was as if the tapes had been stolen from their dockets.

We however cooperated and gave them a copy of a 3-4 minutes disc. They returned again on the 7 June 2013, while Sandisiwe Williams who was leading the crew on the day was on leave, demanding raw video footage of the bloody encounter between Somalis and residents. We asked them to put their request in writing, but that was turned down. They started flashing a search warrant demanding all the tapes.

We, refused to hand over the tapes, the police then threatened to charger Bay TV and its Deputy Station Manager with obstruction of justice if the tapes were not handed over in ten minutes. After this this threat we then handed over the raw footage. They returned on Monday, 09 June 2013, with a third demand which was accompanied by a threat.

They were demanding three statements from three staff members. This time they had a subpoena. They demanded cooperation or risk a court appearances on 28 June.

Baytv board has referred the matter to the lawyers. We are part of the conscious citizenry that hopes to do good for the country. Cooperating with the police is foremost to our objectives. However we feel that the police should not bully and lead with threats on information that they themselves could have attained through their own means. The manner they are going about is threatening the very essence of freedom of speech and right to information.

The media cannot be forced to produce evidence on behalf of the police. We are not an information gathering desk of the SAPS. Whatever information we gather at our own cost is meant for our viewers. Such police action is a mockery of democracy and cuts against the grain of media freedom.

We demand the return of tapes which the police usurped from us. Ms Sandisiwe Williams has lodged a complaint with the National Police Commissioner, through the Head of her Communications Department Solomon Makgale.