Zulu maidens who showed their breasts at the coronation of King Misuzulu sparked a complaint to the broadcasting watchdog.
Viewer Tlotliso Mphuthi said Newzroom Afrika should have broadcast a warning that its live coverage of the coronation would contain nudity. He told the Broadcasting Complaints Commission of South Africa that children might have been harmed by the coverage, but the news channel brought in a Zulu cultural expert to bolster its defence.
This month, the watchdog rejected Mphuthi’s complaint and said “the need to be able to embrace each other’s diversity remains an imperative task within the democratic South Africa”.
In his complaint, Mphuthi said he watched the coronation on Newzroom Afrika between 5pm and 8pm on August 20.
“There were scenes of women/Zulu maidens with breasts not covered and at some point children had their breasts showing and their bums showing,” he said.
The absence of a warning from the channel, or the imposition of an age restriction, contravened a clause in the broadcasting code of conduct relating to “nudity, sexual conduct, violence or offensive language”.
In its response, Newzroom Afrika said the coronation was of great public, cultural and traditional significance and included Zulu maidens in traditional attire.
“It is the tradition and culture of the AmaZulu nation that maidens bare their breasts when dressed in their traditional attire,” it said.
“[The AmaZulu culture] does not view the showing of breasts as ‘nudity’ or for the purpose of simulating sexual arousal … but as a practice which is firmly entrenched in the cultural norms and customs of the AmaZulu nation and many other African cultures.”
Tolerance of different views and cultural diversity was a corollary of the constitutional right to freedom of expression, said Newzroom Afrika legal executive Melissa Behr and news director Katy Katopodis.
They said Mphuthi appeared to believe the broadcast constituted child pornography, which the code of conduct defines as a person under 18 displaying their genitals in a context aimed at stimulating sexual arousal. But they said they could not comprehend this complaint.
The claim that the broadcast contained nudity which was not suitable for or harmful to children was without foundation because Zulu maidens showing their breasts “is not considered ‘nudity’ in the African culture”.
Broadcasting the coronation only within the watershed period, when children were assumed to be asleep, “would be tantamount to saying that children need to be protected from the practices and traditions of the AmaZulu culture”, they said.
“This would foster a culture of intolerance towards cultural diversity. Newzroom Afrika is obliged to report matters of public interest and promote the values of cultural diversity, not to censor them under the guise of protection of children.”
Zulu cultural expert Musa Xulu told the commission that in an ancestral introduction ceremony, “Zulu maidens are expected to dress the way that they did, as women are considered a stronghold of cultural sustainability”.
He added: “In ceremonies like these, Zulu maidens are a reflection of the Zulu nation’s pride, which is appeasing to their ancestors.”
Mphuthi responded that he still thought a warning should have been broadcast. “In SA’s diversity are people who do not appreciate seeing breasts on TV,” he said. “[The channel] had reporters [at the coronation], they should be the ones to see what is happening and could inform [the channel] on the pictures that may appear.”
The three-person commission panel said the broadcast featured “one of the most memorable events within the Zulu nation’s history [and] … attracted immense viewership across all races globally”.
They added: “Viewed as such, it was the depiction of a cultural event without any innuendo of sexual undertones or sexual arousal, which the code prohibits. This was a prideful moment for their ancestors which was shared with viewers who chose to watch.”
The panel — Brian Makeketa, Boitumelo Tlhakung and Melanie Chait — said a sensitive approach to embracing each other’s diversity “is an expectation that stems from the provisions of the Bill of Rights”.
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