One of the men “outed” on the show No Excuses, Pay Papgeld says his life has been ruined after being incorrectly targeted as a father who doesn't pay maintenance for his children.
But despite the way the show on DStv's Moja Love channel apparently violates the law — as do a host of other reality series on the channel — the Broadcasting & Complaints Commission of South Africa (BCCSA) says it has received few actionable complaints.
BCCSA registrar Shouneez Martin said most objections have been lodged by third parties not directly involved in the show, so they have no legal standing.
“It is strange,” she said. “The victims in the show do not lodge a complaint, but other people do. Such complaints are difficult to judge since we do not know what the person's reaction might have been. It would be presumptuous for the commission to decide without their view.”
Among Moja Love’s popular shows are Uyajola 99, hosted by ex-con and rapper Molemo “Jub Jub” Maarohanye, who served four years in prison for culpable homicide and is now facing rape, assault and attempted murder charges in the Johannesburg magistrate's court.
Maarohanye also hosts another Moja Love show, You Promised To Marry Me, in which abandoned partners confront their exes for failing to fulfil their promise to put a ring on their finger.
In Sizokuthola, the film crew headed by presenter Xolani Khumalo raids the homes of alleged drug dealers, and in X-Repo, a crew led by presenter Xolani Maphanga confronts people who have allegedly seized assets from debtors and returns them to their “rightful” owner.
A Soweto man, a teacher, this week told the Sunday Times how he had been admitted to a psychiatric hospital because of the stress, humiliation and trauma brought on by being wrongly exposed as a maintenance dodger on No Excuses, Pay Papgeld in 2018.
The man, who asked that his name not be published, said the crew had arrived at his home and asked builders working in his yard to call him to move his car. When he emerged from the house, the crew was in his yard with cameras rolling, demanding to know why he had not paid maintenance for his three children from a previous marriage.
The children's mother was with the crew.
People simply do not know their rights.
— Television analyst Thinus Ferreira
“I disputed that I don’t pay maintenance. I told them that they should have verified whether I pay maintenance before coming to accuse me. My wife, who was inside, saw what was happening and collected the receipts, which were proof that I had paid maintenance.
“The host of the show saw the documents but allowed my ex to hurl insults at me and my wife. It was no longer about maintenance. I lost my temper and picked up a stick and asked the crew to leave.”
He said that as the commotion unfolded, neighbours came out of their homes to see what was happening. So did children from the school where his wife, also a teacher, worked.
He said he called the show's producers, who agreed not to air that segment until he gave his side of the story.
But a few days later, neighbours told him they had seen him on TV in a teaser for the show.
“That Sunday, they aired the full episode. People were accusing us of refusing to pay maintenance. Others would confront us in public, saying they saw us on television. It was scary.”
He lodged a complaint against MultiChoice at the time, but the BCCSA dismissed it, saying children's rights were a priority and rights to privacy and dignity were overridden by a legitimate public interest.
He appealed and the tribunal found in March 2019 that the episode was flawed and had little to do with the protection of children.
It found that the broadcaster had “failed to protect the interest of the children involved” and that the children had been “taunted” by their peers after their names and identities were revealed on the show and their parents portrayed negatively.
MultiChoice was reprimanded by the BCCSA and ordered not to use the footage again.
The man said the mockery, embarrassment and shame he and his wife had to endure had put a huge strain on them, and the education department provided psychological counselling.
“I was in a bad state. I would just break down and cry. I could not stand being at work or in public. I lost sleep and could not function. I became a mess. My then wife was suffering too,” he said.
The couple were admitted to the psychiatric ward at Tshepo Themba Private Hospital in Soweto, where they stayed for three weeks until their medical aid was depleted.
He said that because he had become emotionally unstable and missed a lot of work, he lost his job, and got divorced.
He is unemployed and on psychiatric medication, living in northern KwaZulu-Natal.
In July, a storm erupted after the death of a Katlehong man who was accused of being a drug dealer in Sizokuthola.
Robert “Kicks” Varrie was declared dead after being interrogated during filming and then dropped off at Thelle Mogoerane Regional Hospital in Vosloorus, according to a report in City Press.
The incident was confirmed by the police and attracted questions over whether the show violated people’s rights.
Moja Love said Varrie had “resisted” the “lawful instructions of the recognised members of the community policing forum”.
In most episodes of Sizokuthola, the TV crew raids the homes of alleged drug dealers. Initially, the targets usually refuse to admit to anything. The camera then cuts to a later time, where the accused person is breathing heavily, his chest wet. He then shows the crew where the drugs are in the house. In some episodes, the alleged dealer even takes the crew to other houses that he says are involved in drug distribution.
Gauteng provincial commissioner Lt-Gen Elias Mawela and the province's department of community safety distanced themselves from Sizokuthola, denying reports that officers were involved in its activities. The department denied that crime prevention wardens were involved in the death of Varrie.
Criminal law expert Nthabiseng Dubazana said South Africans were ignorant of their rights.
Commenting on Sizokuthola, Dubazana said the show did not follow Criminal Procedure Act (CPA) requirements when making arrests. The crew had no right to raid someone’s property, she said.
“You cannot go on to someone’s property without a search warrant. You have to go to a magistrate, make an application, so that you can do the search.”
She said the “arrests” made on Sizokuthola are not carried out by police officers and no-one reads the suspects their rights.
“That [disallows] everything that happens after the arrest including the evidence that was confiscated on the scene.”
Dubazana also questioned the manner in which the alleged drug dealers confess.
“A confession must be done in writing in front of a peace officer or magistrate. The fact that people are confessing to selling drugs on television is inadmissible. It cannot be used in court.
“As a defence lawyer, I can argue that the evidence was planted. What proof do you have that it was taken from my home?
“Also, sections 218 and 219 of the CPA say the confession must be done freely and voluntarily without any undue influence. It has to be reduced to writing in front of a peace officer, police, lawyer or magistrate. The fact that this person does not want to say where the drugs are and then viewers go to an ad break and when they come back this person looks like [he/she] has been tortured ... is a problem.
“The body of the show is wrong. Although it is supposed to benefit the communities, it does not. When the people who have been arrested come out, they are angry and we do not know what they might do. They may even search for those who gave information to the police,” Dubazana said.
There have been instances during Sizokuthola where police release people who have been arrested in the show the next day and this is captured on camera.
Dubazana said Uyajola 99 also violated people’s rights.
“It is housebreaking for someone to come into your home at night without your permission. Why are you coming to my house? I can also charge you with assault because most of the time the bodyguards are pushing people around.
“You are infringing on my right to dignity. You get into my space without my consent and take the footage which you publish without my consent. You are showing me there in my underwear for everybody to ridicule me. My reputation is ruined. There are so many things that are going wrong there. You can take the production house to court, but people just don’t know.”
She said on No Excuses, Pay Papgeld, aggrieved mothers should not call Moja Love but rather go to maintenance court and get a garnishee order if the father is not paying maintenance.
Independent TV analyst Thinus Ferreira said Moja Love came into existence to compete with Mzansi Magic. It then carved its own niche by introducing unique content.
“Moja Love realised that if they want to be competitive, they need to have different content and be bold. They took the tabloid route. Mzansi Magic has also started following in their footsteps to get their audience.
“It is the same thing that happened in America during the 1990s. Talkshows such as Jerry Springer started the trend.”
Ferreira said Moja Love content was not driven by high production values.
“It speaks to underlying distress, fears that people have, and it exploits these. It has the feeling of unedited content with cameras running around like a video on social media, which grips the imagination of the viewers.
“People feel the immediacy and feel as though no-one has edited the content and they are seeing it as it happened.”
Ferreira said the channel often went “overboard”.
“There are shows where they bring someone on screen under false pretences without telling them what they will face. You are not allowed to do that. You need to tell the person that you are going to confront them with a family member who is angry. But they tell the person that they have won a prize.
“It is going to take a while for consumers to realise that they are being exploited. People have to use the BCCSA to complain if they have not been treated right. But people simply do not know their rights,” Ferreira said.
“[The exploitation] will continue until the audience gets tired of it or someone dies or more people die. It will be sustainable until something major happens that gets people to change their mind.”
When Moja Love started in 2018, we used to get a lot of complaints, but now we only get a few
— BCCSA registrar Shouneez Martin
The BCCSA's Martin said three complaints had been filed this year regarding Uyajola 99, all related to privacy and dignity issues. They were third party complaints and therefore dismissed.
There have also been two complaints about X-Repo this year, and two complaints about No Excuses, Pay Papgeld.
“People lodge complaints and when we follow up and ask for their address and further details, they do not come back. We say to people, ‘You need to make a case as to why you believe the rights of someone have been violated,’ but they do not come back,” Martin said.
She said the BCCSA received a complaint two weeks ago regarding No Excuses, Pay Papgeld, and it had been mediated this week and the case closed.
“When Moja Love started in 2018, we used to get a lot of complaints, but now we only get a few,” Martin said.
In a written response, MultiChoice, which owns DStv, said it was “committed to upholding ethical standards and promoting content that respects human rights, human dignity and diversity of opinion and perspective”.
“MultiChoice does not produce the content aired on the channels we carry. Instead, we serve as a platform for various and diverse channels to reach their audiences. The channels on our platform are accountable to comply with the regulations and codes applicable to our industry.
“We remain committed to providing a platform that promotes respect, diversity, and upholds the dignity and rights of all individuals.”
Moja Love CEO Aubrey Tau initially agreed to an interview with the Sunday Times but later cancelled.
The channel’s spokesperson Nonzwakazi Cekete declined to answer questions.
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