By Catherine Sasman
WINDHOEK
Trustco Group International is suing the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) for damages of N$140 million arising from an alleged repudiation of two written agreements concluded between the parties in March 2004.
The agreements involve a promotional campaign and short message service (SMS) in the form of a game show, called Money for Mahala (M4M) on SABC2.
The service involved information relevant to SABC’s activities such as programme schedules and opinion polls, through SMS messages through a dedicated number. The content was to be availed by SABC.
The two parties accepted that a charge of N$3 per SMS would be levied by Trustco. The SABC was to receive 15 cents per SMS transmitted.
Trustco would also deliver to the SABC the M4M programmes – 52 transmissions with a duration of three minutes per transmission – before the transmission date and in final broadcast form.
Trustco suggested that the SABC had failed or refused to cooperate with it, and further failed to take steps to establish or provide campaigns to promote the SMS service as was agreed on in any other medium other than the broadcaster’s television or radio channels other than SABC2.
In addition, Trustco contended that the SABC had denied that it had any obligations in terms of the SMS agreement.
The SABC, alleged Trustco, had also interfered in an unreasonable manner with the execution by Trustco of its obligations.
Trustco further alleges that the SABC had used its own SMS service to the detriment and exclusion of the SMS service supplied and tendered by Trustco pursuant to the agreement reached by the two parties.
The M4M agreement was breached, charged Trustco, because the SABC did not permit it to use direct response marketing for an uninterrupted period during the currency of the said agreement.
Trustco thus suspended its performance of the services under the agreements on June 28, 2004.
The SABC counterclaimed that it was Trustco that was in breach of the M4M agreement because it failed to produce and make available M4M programmes to the SABC for transmission on SABC2 since the date in June 2004.
SABC further claimed that Trustco had failed to pay the corporation its portion of the amount collected by Trustco from SMSs generated in terms of the SMS agreement.
The broadcaster further claimed Trustco failed to submit statistical data to it.
Judgment on the matter is expected on June 28 this year.