THE Inkatha Freedom Party and its octogenarian leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi are taking on e.tv over its flighting of the controversial documentary1994: The Bloody Miracle.

The IFP complained that the 90-minute documentary portrays Buthelezi as an instigator and inciter of the fighting that gripped parts of the country in the run up to the 1994 elections.

The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa's (Icasa) Complaints and Compliance Committee (CCC) is expected to rule on the IFP's complaint after it heard oral arguments on September 19.

Buthelezi is featured in the documentary but he is unhappy with how his party's role in the 1990s bloody war is shown.

Released in February this year, the documentary is described as a "chilling look at what these hard men did to thwart democracy", according to its creators Sabido Productions, a subsidiary of the media group Sabido Investments, which is owned by Johannesburg Stock Exchange-listed Hosken Consolidated Investments (HCI).

HCI owns e.tv and the 24-hour news channel eNCA, which flighted the documentary as part of the commemoration of 20 years of democracy.

The IFP's main source of contention about the documentary is that it was aired repeatedly without the party and Buthelezi being given a chance to respond.

Icasa is yet to finalise the matter as the CCC has not made its decision.

IFP legal advisor Lourens de Klerk said they were still waiting for Icasa's ruling.

The documentary also features interviews with President Jacob Zuma, apartheid-era hit squad commander Eugene de Kock and former president FW de Klerk among others.

Icasa spokesman Paseka Maleka and e.tv's Vasili Vass did not respond to questions yesterday.

sidimbal@sowetan.co.za

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