A Broadcasting Complaints Commission tribunal was meeting in Cape Town to hear how a programme on e.tv's 3rd Degree about the
Sizzlers massacre horrified the families of the young men killed in the
attack, writes Bronwynne Jooste in the Cape Argus.
In the documentary, broadcast in March, the channel aired crime scene footage of the murders, which took place in a gay massage parlour, during a 3rd Degree programme broadcast.
Marlene Visser, whose son Warren was among the victims, complained to the commission that the documentary had been too graphic.
Laura Cunningham, the nieces of slain Sizzlers owner Aubrey Otgaar, also complained, saying she was horrified at the contents of the programme.
But earlier this year, the commission found that while it could understand the pain of the two women, the programme had not violated the broadcasting code.
Visser won the right to appeal and that hearing was being held at a hotel in the city centre this morning.
Visser was not planning to attend – she was being represented by a lawyer – but told the Cape Argus yesterday that while she had started healing in the aftermath of her son's death, the broadcast had deeply affected her family.
"Time doesn't heal when someone rehashes it," she said.
"It's like it happened yesterday. Time heals when things happen in between.
"I don't know why they keep doing this after six years. It's had its run. How must we recover when they keep opening the wounds?
"We suffer every single time we see those bodies strewn across the floor."
On January 20 six years ago, Warren Visser was murdered, with masseurs Sergio de Castro, Marius Meyer, Travis Reade, Tim Boyd, Stephanus Fouche, Johan Meyer and client Gregory Berghaus.
Quinton Taylor survived, despite being hit by a bullet in his head.
The men were tied up, shot in the head and had their throats slit before being doused with petrol.
In 2004, Adam Woest and Trevor Theys were convicted of the killings in the Cape High Court, and each received nine life sentences.
Theys died of a heart attack at Groote Schuur Hospital last year.
Click here to read the full report, posted on allafrica.com.
