Press Releases

Issues to be heard include: The Application is, in the first instance, a Review of the decision of ICASA, with a request to court to set aside the license, on the grounds that incorrect procedure was followed, amongst others:

• That the procedure followed by ICASA to deal with the TopTV application was procedurally flawed and unfair;
• That the advert which ICASA published in the Government Gazette (which it was obliged to do), inviting the public to make submissions, did not mention in the advert that the TV channels which ODM applied for were to broadcast pornographic material; further, the advert, which required the public to make its submissions within 30 days, was published in December, which required the public to respond during the period when most people take their holidays, that is in December and January.It is interesting to note that despite the inconvenient time the public was expected to respond in, there were close to 600 written submissions by the public, the vast majority of which were against the granting of the license applied for; one wonders how much greater the response would have been if the Notice was published a different time of the year.
• That during the hearing ICASA determined that those, who had requested to make oral representation before the Council set up by ICASA for this purpose, may only have 10 minutes each to put their case, whereas ODM was given 90 minutes to put its case as well as more time for their so-called expert witness Ms Wasserman, a sex-therapist, to make her input as well. DFL’s experts were not allowed sufficient time and/or invited to put forward their scientific and medical evidence on the harmful effects of pornography on the human brain, before the Council;
• That most members of the 7 member Council Committee set up by ICASA to hear the oral submissions were not suitably qualified to be on the Committee. This was apparent from the type and amount of questions such members posed to ODM, which were hopelessly insufficient to enable ICASA to come to a proper decision;
• That one of the institutions that had made application to make oral representation before ICASA’s Council, was the Film and Publications Board. The Council, however, at the request of ODM, did not allow the Film and Publications Board to make oral representations, even when ICASA was in terms of the legislation it functions by, obliged to consider the input of the Film and Publications Board.(Whose submission, by the way, was in opposition to the granting of the license.)
• That other existing legislation that prohibits the broadcasting of pornography by television channels was not properly or fully taken into consideration;
• That the bias which ICASA showed at the hearing was so blatant that it can be concluded that ICASA had failed to carry out its mandate and also shows that it acted in bad faith.

DFL is of the opinion that, as DFL was at the hearing and had compelling, non-moralistic, medical and scientific evidence to put before the hearing of the harmful effects of pornography on the brain, comparable to the effects of hard-line drugs such as LSD, heroin and cocaine, DFL was not given adequate opportunity to put this evidence before ICASA. DFL will place before court scientific and medical evidence on the harmful effect of pornography by way of five expert witnesses as follows: Mr Iyavar Chetty: formerly Director of the Film and Publications Board who testifies as to the reasons for existing legislation to protect society, and especially children, against pornography Other experts include, Dr Donald Hilton, Prof. Tuviah Zabow,Professor Mary Anne Leyden and Prof Riesman Further arguments on the merits will include :

• that there is a real danger that children will have access to the 3 channels, as security measures put onto place to control access to the channels are ineffective;
• that pornography broadcasted in any format, leads to increased violence against women and children and also affects their constitutional rights.

In summary: pornography is medically proven to be harmful to the brain, both for adults but especially for children, causing structural damage to the brain with enormous consequences for the individual and ultimately for society as a whole. It also has an addictive effect on the human being that can be likened to hard drugs, which addiction is difficult to overcome without specialized and intensive treatment. On top of that DFL has provided expert evidence that demonstrates the security measures to be hopelessly insufficient. That especially so in the light of the fact that the computer skills of minors most of the time far exceeds that of their parents. Added to that is the fact that bringing porn into the living rooms of South African households and expecting parents to send the kids out off the room certain times of the day, having to lock the doors and close the curtains so that the kids can’t peep at the shows, is bizarre harmful to any family.]]>

Regardless of pro-pot activists’ claims in the USA that legalization of dagga (cannabis) will reduce the underground sale of the drug, it is actually increasing. In the state of Colorado, the black market cannabis, which many expected to disappear after the substance was legalized about a year ago, is now thriving. According to the latest information from the U.S. Forest Service, cannabis is now grown on public land owned by the federal government in the state. Worse, it is controlled by Drug Trafficking Organizations (DTO’s). According to the latest information cannabis production is booming. Mr. Tom Gorman who heads a multi-state task force called the Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, said one of the arguments for legalizing cannabis in Colorado and Washington State was actually to reduce the black market. But the facts are alarming. By legalizing cannabis in Colorado, they have become the black market for about 40 other states that they can document. According to Mr Gorman instead of eliminating it, Colorado has now become it. They are also the black market for those people under twenty-one. Yet, the “War on Drugs have failed” rhetoric echoes throughout the globe as celebrities and politicians jump on the band wagon. These activists, if you want to believe it, even claim legalization of drugs will actually reduce crime, drug deaths, the number of drug addicts and cut government costs, to name a few. Drug legalization/decriminalization is one of the ultimate goals of the controversial ‘harm reduction movement’, despite of its failures world wide. In the 1970’s, the Netherlands allowed individuals to buy 5g of cannabis at a time. Cannabis use among 18 to 20 year olds consequently increased from 15{01b0879e117dd7326006b2e84bcaac7e8fa1509c5c67baf2c9eb498fe06caff4} to 44{01b0879e117dd7326006b2e84bcaac7e8fa1509c5c67baf2c9eb498fe06caff4}. In 2004 the Netherlands government therefore implemented an action plan to discourage cannabis use and in 2008 Amsterdam started to close 43 so-called ‘Coffee shops’. According to a 2009 European Survey on Alcohol and Other Drugs (ESPAD), cannabis use among Dutch youth was more than double the European average. The proportion of school children that think regular cannabis usage involves big risks is the lowest in the Netherlands of all countries surveyed. The Netherlands thus moved to close ‘Coffee shops’ within a certain radius from schools and in May 2011 the Netherlands moved to fully ban all tourists from visiting “coffee shops” A Letter from Dutch Minister of Health and Justice stated: “This law will put an end to the nuisance of criminality associated with ‘Coffee shops’ and drug trafficking” Back in the US the stats don’t look much different. A recent report showed that five months into legal pot sales in Colorado, crime went up in Denver. The total number of reported offenses had increased by more than 10 percent, from 17,450 in 2013 up to 19,234 in 2014. In Aurora, violent crime is up 10 percent so far this year after pot legalization, with sex assaults up 30 percent and aggravated assaults up 24 percent.  In Englewood, robberies have increased 11 percent since 2013, and burglaries are up more than 68 percent. Another major impact that the legalization of cannabis had in Colorado was an increase in fatal motor vehicle accidents. In an August 2013 report, traffic fatalities in Colorado are shown to have decreased 16 percent, from 2006 to 2011, which is consistent with national trends.  But during the same six years in Colorado, traffic fatalities involving drivers testing positive for just cannabis increased 114 percent. In 2006, drivers testing positive for cannabis were involved in 28 percent of fatal vehicle crashes involving drugs.  By 2011 that number had increased to 56 percent. Numerous other problems related to drug legalization are also sited by world renowned researchers. Whether Colorado’s legalization experiment will eventually somewhat decrease black market pot, remains to be seen. But studies indicate that, for example, while legalized gambling in the USA decreased illegal gambling – legalization increased the amount of gamblers.]]>

Doctors for Life have applied to the High Court North Gauteng (Pretoria) for the Review of the granting by ICASA (the Independent Communications Authority of SA brought into existence by statute) to ODM (On Digital Media (Pty) Ltd – the company owning StarSat TV formerly TopTV) – a licence to air television pay channels for the sole purpose of broadcasting pornographic material.