Contrary to what AFD pres ident Themba Sono wrote in Sowetan on November 27, the SABC's coverage of the 2004 election was fair and balanced.

Contrary to what AFD pres ident Themba Sono wrote in Sowetan on November 27, the SABC's coverage of the 2004 election was fair and balanced.

This finding was made by the Human Sciences Research Council, which did an independent assessment.

It also found "no allegations or statements by the broadcaster were found that could possibly have given any political party an unfair advantage over other parties. In short, the broadcaster was found to be as objective as could be expected, given the pressures of the election".

Sono was also unhappy about the amount of coverage given to the Independent Democrats during the last elections and the Congress of the People (Cope) and African Peoples Convention (APC) ahead of this election.

But it is obvious that in any election there is bound to be increased focus on new and emerging parties, especially if they emerge as a result of a split in one of the major parties.

This was the case with the ID in the last election and it is the case with Cope, the APC and any major emerging parties in this election.

The SABC is proud of its coverage of previous elections and intends living up to these high standards in its coverage of the coming elections.

It will act according to the Icasa regulations and its own policies, which obliges it to provide full, impartial and independent coverage of elections.

Kaizer Kganyago, SABC spokesman