y o u r a s a s c o o p ! issue 03 | first quarter 2015

Earlier in the year staff members were given feedback forms which they completed for the purpose of trying to keep the newsletter inter-esting and personally relevant to all staff members. The feedback we got was great and much appreciat-ed. A very big thank you to every-one for their contribution in mak-ing the newsletter what it is.

We dedicate this new issue, the

first issue of 2015, to human rights

following Human Rights day which

is the 21st March. Leon takes this

very important national holiday into

account as he talks about human rights

and advertising, the rulings the ASA

issues and the response or “flack”

that the ASA often receives because

of the rulings. An opinion piece by

Puseletso reflects on human rights

in South Africa as she looks at how

far the country has come, how things

have changed and how many aspects

have remained the same. Faith’s Judge

Ngoepe profile shows us exactly how

privileged the ASA is to have a man of

such great stature as chairperson of

the Final Appeal Committee. Finally

Roger O’Toole makes us laugh as he

writes about the fun in what we do.

The editorial team appreciates

the contribution by everyone in this

latest issue of Off the Record. Once

again everyone is invited to submit

their ideas on stories and articles for

the next issue. Articles and discussion

points can be sent to mpumi@asasa.

org.za. We hope you enjoy reading

the newsletter as much as we enjoyed

putting it together for you.

Editor in chief: Mpumi Mda

Editor’s note

Living in the 21st century it would be easy to assume that human rights are the funda-mental tenets by which most nations govern, and rightly so since most constitutions theoretically exist to pro-mote the rights of the people. Human rights can be described as moral principles that illustrate certain stan-dards of human behaviour and are usually pro-tected as legal rights in national and interna-tional law. Being understood as fundamental rights for human beings, they are assigned to all human beings regardless of race, age, gen-der, location, religion or nation. Human rights should apply to everyone everywhere and all the time. The United Nations is the ultimate guardian of these rights.

Humans require support from national laws

and impose obligations on people to respect the

human rights of others. What makes these rights

contentious and leads to philosphical and legal

debates is the debate around what constitutes

the meaning of rights. Adding to the controversy

are the views by some that human rights should

be a minimum requirement whilst others

consider it an ultimate goal.

There are numerous cases where coun-

tries, institutions and corporations violate hu-

man rights either through suppression or by

ignoring the plight of people in other

countries that deny human rights

to their people because of their

own economic or political inter-

ests . As Human rights include

a diversity of factors, from civil

and political rights, to

socio-economic rights,

it is easy for them to be

misused as a propagan-

da tool. An illustration

of this would be (as the

Human Development

Report 2000 from the United Nations points

out) during the Cold War, when wealthy west-

ern nations decried the lack of civil and political

freedom, while the socialist countries, and some

developing countries, were demanding more

social and economic rights. Although both sides

used the proverbial human rights banner, each

meant something different.

Although propaganda strategies attempt

to highlight issues such as ethnicity and race,

the root causes of human rights abuses are

usually economic and political. In reality, the

dilemmas at the United Nations Security

Council show that nations have their own

interests that influence their judgment. The

United States, Britain and France have contin-

ued to protect Israel (against the Palestinians)

while Russia and China are currently support-

ing the beleaguered governments in Sudan

and Burma. All five countries continue to influ-

ence the 15-member Security Council to their

advantage using their veto.

Closer to home though, unlawful, pro-

longed detentions and violence against migrants

and individuals in need of international protec-

tion remains a concern. Amnesty International

has a long record of reporting on violence

against women in South Africa and remains con-

cerned about the continued levels of violence

throughout the country. Even more disturbing is

the high number of hate-motivated violence and

xenophobia which can be attributed to some

extent to governments’ struggle with economic

and social rights while rooted in financial mis-

management and corruption.

South Africa, like other developing and

developed countries, has strong constitutional

protections for human rights and has had rela-

tive success at providing basic services. Most

nations, regardless of their economies or indus-

trialization, are violating some human rights, the

best that can be hoped for is that the violations

are not extreme and that no innocent people

are physically harmed.

02

Human rigHts: the real rights that humans have

By MpuMi Mda

off the record | first QUArter 2015

publication Credits

editor: mpumi mdasub-editor: Faith rikhotso Contributions: stephan Kotze, puseletso matene and Elizabeth moepya email: info@asasa.org.za Photography: asaimages Courtesy: thinkstock.comdesign and layout: isikhova publishing & communications (www.isikhova.co.za)

the advertising standards authorityPhysical address: Willow burnside island office park (Entrance off athole) Jan smuts avenue, craighall park, po box 415555 craighall 2024email: info@asasa.org.zaWebsite: www.asasa.org.za

all rights reserved. no part of this publication may be produced, adapted, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording

or otherwise without the prior written permission of asa.

the views expressed in this newsletter are not necessarily those of the publishers or its agents. While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of its contents, neither the owners nor the publishers can be held responsible for any omissions, errors, or for any misfortune, injury or damages which may arise therefrom. the same conditions apply to any advertising in the publication.

For us to be observing the day we now refer to as Human Rights Day, very many people had to suffer, some losing their lives, in a protest against pass laws, for example. That kind of protest is foreign to many today. The right to be where you wish as a South African is so easy today it is not worth a second thought. This distance from the experiences of the past is welcome; it means the fight was won.

Today we should be able to look back at the protests as distant memories, the lessons of which have moved us forward as a society. It has been a long time since such a protest has occurred; many of us are distant from any possible protest. What we do not realise is that our voices have started drifting and we cannot find the harmony anymore to stand together

against the truths that spit in the faces of the fallen of 1960.

The laws that are supposed to protect all our human rights equally, are no longer recognised. The lines between the haves and have-nots are far apart and so vast that we have all become so separated into smaller and smaller sections of society, fading the voices of the past into empty murmurs and complaints.

Recently South Africans in some townships were accused of attacking foreign nationals over a specific incident and blew up into larger, less coherent and randomly violent attacks on their fellow Africans. Not very long ago we South Africans took refuge with our fellow Africans and sought protection and a brotherhood.

It was in 1976 when scores of young South Africans died taking a stance to an acceptable education. We should be looking back at our his-tory under the nurturing shade of a tree that our forebears planted with their protest actions that

has since grown and borne the fruit of democ-racy. The earth was dug and prepared, the soil nurtured, and the roots held strong by the sweat and blood of generations passed. We are failing to water, and weed, and fertilise the promise they made possible. Our commemoration of human rights day will have to wait until the day we once again find the collective voice and harmonise the song that reflect the much praised vision of Ubun-tu and correct our human wrongs.

03

rEFlEction on human rights By puseletso Matene

off the record | first QUArter 2015

“Chairperson of FAC: Judge Bernard Ngeope” - that’s how the footer of the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) letterhead reads. In October of 2014, Judge Ngeope was appointed as the Chairperson of the ASA’s Final Appeal Committee (FAC), following Judge Kate O’ Regan stepping down as the President of the FAC.

The Honourable Judge President Bernard Makgabo Ngoepe is a man who, among other things, has devoted his professional life to the law in its many facets and to justice and equality for all. In 1976 he established a legal practice in Polokwane, and, for seven years, prac-tised as an attorney before being admitted in 1983 as an Advocate of the now High Court of South Africa. In 1994 he was elevated to

the status of Senior Counsel. His elevation to the Bench followed not long after. In 1995 he served as an acting judge of the High Court of South Africa until he was appointed as a judge of the Transvaal Provincial Division of the High Court of South Africa. In the same year he served for one term as an acting judge of the Constitutional Court of South Africa. In 1998 he served as an acting judge of the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein and was appointed Judge Presi-dent of the Transvaal Provincial Division of the High Court of South Africa. Later in 1998 he was appointed as Judge President of the Pretoria

High Court.The UNISA Graduate

School of Business Lead-ership (SBL) launched its first academic scholarship in 2012, the Judge Bernard Makgabo Ngoepe Aca-demic Scholarship. Judge Ngeope is currently the UNISA Chancellor. The scholarship was established to enable brilliant, but dis-advantaged students to

pursue or complete their studies at the SBL. In 2014, SBL awarded six Judge Ngeope bursaries.

In 1982, Judge Ngeope became an honor-ary member of the State of Tennessee House of Representatives. In 1997 he was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Laws from The University of the North and appointed honorary professor in the School of Law at the University of Limpopo and in 1998 he received the Duma Nokwe Award of the National Institute for Pub-lic Interest Law and Research.

When I asked Mr Fred Makgato - Head of Legal & Regulatory Affairs at the Advertising Standards Authority what it means to have Judge Ngeope as the chairperson of the Final Appeal Committee, he said “Judge Ngoepe is one of the most experienced and treasured legal minds in the country and his association with ASA means that the industry will be exposed to his expertise. The rulings from the Final Appeal Committee will continue to assist the ASA in guarding its repu-tation as the master of self-regulation, not only in South Africa, but throughout Africa. The pres-ence of Judge Ngoepe makes the public, including government; listen to ASA’s view on issues with keen interest”.

By faith rikhotso

gEtting to KnoW Judge Bernard ngeoPe

be heard

have a saytalk it out

04

lEon’s cornEr: human Wrongs and rights

Extreme used to sing “… three sides to every story; yours, mine, and Monday morning’s …” these words echo whenever I read through com-ments appearing in online ar-ticles about our rulings.

Our consumer complainants turn to us when they believe an advertiser has infringed on their sacred rights; dignity, equality, honesty, or even just good old fashioned decency. The problem, however, is that the ASA can never act as a bodyguard to complainants. We are duty-bound to con-sider advertising from a neutral position, not “neutral” like

Switzerland, but rather “tell daddy about your problem” neutral.

The more subjective provisions of our Code deal with contraventions that relate to such rights (offensive advertising, dis-crimination, and gender). Such provisions

also mirror the words of our constitution, referring to

being, “… reasonable and justifiable in an open and democratic society based on hu-

man dignity, equality and freedom …”

We not only have an obligation to hear both sides, but also to tell one party that they are wrong. This is why we take the time to justify the decision in our rul-ings. Unfortunately, many are unwilling, or perhaps incapable of accepting that they

were wrong, which is when we are insulted, ridiculed, and often equated to the epitome of useless. I find it entertaining (euphe-

mism) to see how quickly people turn to insults and slurs that go way beyond the “in-fringement of my human rights” they initially complained of.

It is heartening to see my teams deal with this professionally, maintaining the ex-pected levels of respect. I think ASA em-ployees inevitably learn that people have a human right to be treated as equals, and that it is human to want to be right even when you are wrong. Well done, and thank you to the true “ladies and gentlemen” of the ASA.

Having wished the ASA team a prosper-ous new year, we heard the chairperson of the Board confirming that we should not panic financially. Resonance with my new- year wishes, is it not?

Back to hard work again with the

Precedent Manual volume 5 and our annual

bug “Code Revision” which is infecting us again.

Now with some HPA executive representatives

having resigned, we lack medicinal, Ooops!!!

Herbal treatment for the CAMS Code. In

passing, a Skimming-el Commission of Inquiry

into financial mismanagement, the CEO’s talk

shows on SAfm on Sundays, and a drop in

complaints will be launched soon. Expertise

required to chair the SCI: having experience in

resigning, authoring minority books and know

how to interpret the Code. The star witness

will be a well-not-so-known-down-and-out-

fascinated-with-the-ASA journalist(s).

Again I’m requested to write in simple

English. The Board is engaging with funders to

develop a best funding model. We are preparing

volume five of the Precedent Manual and the

Code review meeting will be held on 15 May

2015. Lastly, there is a call for an investigation

into our finances by media commentators.

rigHt said Fred

By fred Makgato

off the record | first QUArter 2015

We all strive to excel in our jobs, it is very

important to continuously improve our-

selves by learning new things and equipping

ourselves with valuable skills. It is no secret

that ASA has had better financial years. Nat-

urally it was music to our ears, when our

HR manager confirmed that study grants

for 2015 were approved! Even though

each applicant will only receive 50% of the

amount requested, the overall reaction was

that of relief and gratitude. So again, we say

“thank you” to the ASA for this opportunity

and we wish Chery, Elizabeth, Faith, Farzana,

Fred, Lindiwe, Phumzile and Suzanne a fruit-

ful year of study!

asa movErs and shakers

2015 Study GRantS appRoved By aSa

By leon groBler

05

Something fishy was going on at ocean Basket, and Ms Marlin (not her real name) was having none of it. Ms Marlin wasn’t particularly enjoying her eve-ning at the ocean Basket in tyger valley Shopping Centre, but things reached a new low when the “Catch of the Day” on her seafood platter appeared not to be cooked. Upon enquiring, she was in-formed that the fish on the platter was a type of fresh water fish from thailand, called “Basa”, and that it is supposed to

look like that, i.e. “pink and transpar-ent” (Basa is a type of catfish, part of the same family of fish as babers – yum-my…). Ms Marlin was “horrified” by this news and did not finish her fish, stating that it tasted bland. She lodged a com-plaint with ASA on the basis that she went to ocean Basket, not River Bas-ket, and that she expected the fish to be from the sea/ocean.

In response, Ocean Basket’s attorneys submitted that their client has never held out to be an exclusive seafood restaurant. Inter-estingly, the attorneys also conceded that the words Ocean Basket “may well lead to such a perception by customers”. Hmmm. They went on to justify their client’s use of fresh water fish on the basis that (i) they’ve done it before (with Tilapia and Nile Perch), and (ii) the fact that “Basa is a wildly (sic) used product in fish res-taurants throughout the world and particularly the United States of America given that it is a sustainable product.” One wonders if it’s per-haps not the best idea to use the actions of American companies as an example of how to do things, especially when it appears as though one of them has ripped off your client’s name, logo, and menu.

In any event, Ocean Basket undertook to at least let their customers know when they are serving them fish that was not necessarily from “the ocean”…

complaint oF tHE quartEr: tHE Fun in WHat WE do:

By roger o’toole

“Value those who give you constructive criticism because without them doing so, you will never reach the peak of what you do.” I have learnt to know that, “the strongest factor for success is self-esteem that is, believing in yourself, believing you can do it and believing you will

get it.” Rise up and do it. You CAN Quotes by: Unarine Ramaru

Words oF motivation From staFF mEmbEr: elizaBeth moePya

off the record | first QUArter 2015

HavE a laugh

Found on: thesweetestoccasion.com

a river runs through it