A full bench of the Western Cape High Court has dismissed an urgent interim application to force Parliament to provide broadcast footage of all incidents in House sittings, including unparliamentary behaviour and grave disorder.
Judge Owen Rogers delivering the judgment this morning said although occurrences of “unparliamentary behaviour” or “grave disturbances” were a possibility, the court was persuaded that the applicants had not shown irreparable harm justifying intervention on an urgent interim basis.
The applicants – Primedia Broadcasting, the South African National Editors’ Forum, Media 24 Ltd, the Open Democracy Advice Centre and the Right2Know Campaign - had been able, and would continue to be able, to report on proceedings in Parliament through traditional reporting methods, even during those relatively brief periods (if they recurred) in which, because of “grave disturbance”, the visual feed did not display the disruption.
The following order was made:
- The application for interim relief was dismissed
- Each party was directed to bear its own costs in respect of the application for interim relief
- The application for relief claimed in terms of relief on the constitutionality of Parliament’s Policy on Filming and Broadcasting would be heard on 20 April
- Applicants were directed to file supplementary founding affidavits, if any, on or before 18 March
- Respondents were directed to file further supplementary answering affidavits, if any, on or before 27 March
- Applicants were directed to file supplementary replying affidavits, if any, by 2 April
- Heads of argument must be delivered by applicants by 7 April and by respondents by 14 April.
