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Today the Film and Publications Board (FPB) presented their Annual Report to the Portfolio Committee of Home Affairs. The FPB is a government entity falling under the Department of Home Affairs.

In deliberations and interrogation of the Report, I asked the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the FPB, Ms Yoliswa Makhasi about the ruling made yesterday by the FPB Appeal Tribunal on the painting titled “The Spear” by artist Brett Murray. The artwork formed part of an exhibition at the Goodman Gallery in Johannesburg earlier this year. The Goodman Gallery last month appealed the FPB classification. The FPB Appeal Tribunal overturned the classification yesterday.

The FPB Appeal Tribunal found that the FPB should not have considered a complaint against the City Press newspaper as the FPB has no jurisdiction over the newspaper or its website. To make it worse the FPB overstepped its authority by extending its decision to classify the painting to all websites that published it.

In response to my questions in this regard, Ms Makhasi defending the original classification made by the FPB stated that the Board was following legislation. She stated this despite the Appeal Tribunal’s confirmation that in effect the FPB had not followed legislation.

The FPB originally claimed that “the painting would be harmful to children on the grounds that it seriously undermines and is insensitive to African culture”. Using the FPB argument, this reasoning was not used in the case of other paintings. Such an example is a painting by Ayanda Mabulu entitled “Umshini Wam” where President Zuma’s genitals are also exposed.

I concluded in the committee that it is thus clear that the FPB entered the political debate which was not their place to do. In so doing they tarnished their image dramatically and acted more like the old Apartheid-era Censorship Board and not as a Classification Board. The Appeal Tribunal thus had no choice but to make this welcome conclusion. I took the opportunity of suggesting to the FPB that this should be a lesson to them in the future so that such erroneous classifications do not recur.