- Title:
- Date: 6th September 1995
- Summary:
- Embargoed:
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- City: JOHANNESBURG
- Country: South Africa
- Reuters ID: 95SEP06V01
- Story Text:
SEX FEATURE: INTERVIEW HUSTLER EDITOR
GV'S OF OFFICES
MAGAZINES ON DISPLAY IN SHOP
20.13.08 INTERVIEW WITH JEFF ZERBS [ASSOCIATEì
EDITOR HUSTLER SA] WHAT WAS THE SITUATION LIKE INì
THE OLD SA?
20.13.19 ....porn magazines weren't allowed asì
such. We had 1 skin mag which wasn't particularlyì
revealing or daring and that mag had to cover upì
the nipples with stars...all rather ridiculous andì
silly but certainly things have opened up to aì
certain extend now -
20.13.31 ...we do have what you could call theì
so-called pornography industry in SA but at theì
same time we're in a weird kind of twilight zoneì
because we have legislation coming beforeì
Parliament quite shortly.
20.13.46 At the same time the old legislation isì
on the statute books & what's happening now isì
that that old legislation is still being appliedì
but "in the light" of the Constitution.
20.13.54 I.o.w it's a very grey area - nobodyì
really know what the law is & all sorts of funnyì
things are happening police are still raidingì
shops & confiscating videos & books & our magazineì
HUSTLER is being banned on a regular basis in SA.
We do appeal - at the moment we do seem to beì
losing a lot of those appeals
20.14.11 so things aren't all wine & roses for theì
porn man in SA today. It's a hard life in manyì
ways. Also we have to keep on defending what we'reì
doing you know...which can get tiresome to put itì
mildly...
20.14.32 ...conservative groups in the country,ì
fundamentalist Christians, people who are veryì
uptight sexuality...are going around and tellingì
shopowners, don't take this sort of material intoì
stores because we're not going to support you ifì
you do so - & of course that affects our business.
20.14.50 I.t.o our arrangement with HUSTLER US,ì
we're the franchise in the world which has doneì
the best...180 000 copies 1 or 2ì
months...curiosity value worn off...
20.15.10 ...it's a continual battle really. It'sì
certainly not easy...
20.15.37 ANYTHING GOES - WILL IT LAST?
The perception that "anything goes" is anì
incorrect one at the moment...people are sayingì
that a pornographer is exploiting the situationì
whereby people are not clear about what the law isì
but also on the other side, the State is alsoì
exploiting...is implimenting the old law by theì
letter...but what about our constitutional rights?
20.16.32 ...and what's happening now is thisì
bizarre kind of line-drawing - people are saying,ì
in the kind of general magazine which goes intoì
the normal bookshops...you can't have an erectì
penis for example and the line is being drawnì
there...
20.16.45 ...I don't know who decided on this whereì
this sort of arbitrary line-drawing comes from...
we claim that that would be an infringement of ourì
constitutional right that you could show somethingì
like that and that the kind of material that wouldì
go to the sex shops for example, should be fullì
penetrative sex but of course that is not theì
prevailing view at the moment...
20.17.05 ...what we have at the moment is thisì
bizarre kind of situation people are saying, soì
far but no further and we're saying, well why notì
because where does our fundamental right end andì
where does it begin etc. The whole thing is ratherì
ludicrous and silly. We play these silly games onì
a continual basis as part of our life...
20.17.23 ...what does freedom mean anyway? Who theì
hell knows? Freedom is never absolute anywayì
anywhere in the world. It's really a completelyì
nebulous concept in many respects and really whatì
you have in the end is a tug-of-war...
20.17.42 ...what we're going to have in the futureì
is a classificatory system & things will beì
divided basically into 3 kinds of categories -
20.17.50 the kind of material you can have forì
basis dessemination anywhere the kind of stuffì
that has to go into the sex shops and the kind ofì
things that you can't publish or distribute at allì
in this country - what's going to happen is thatì
people are going to argue about what is suitableì
for the first kind of category...
20.18.15 WHO WILL DECIDED WHAT GOES WHERE?
20.19.01 ...it's going to be trial & error that'sì
the major problem I think we'll have to learn asì
things go along...
20.19.08 ...this is an ideal period for people toì
actually take responsibility for they're selling &ì
distributing & for the State to actually workì
with them in establishing in what the ground rulesì
are going to be...
20.19.23 ...the State has decided to use thisì
period to clamp down...because there's uncertaintyì
people are going to take advantage...bend theì
rules as much as they can, push the limits as farì
as they possibly can & we're [the state] gonnaì
make damnwell sure that they don't. We'llì
discipline them now! So that they will beì
disciplined in the future. That's old style SAì
type thinking which is you jknow suppress with theì
thumb, clamp-down, people aren't responsibleì
enough...
20.19.54 ...we're losing a golden opportunity toì
learn now to regulate this industry properly...
20.20.03 ...should not be a period ofì
confrontation...be a period of learning...
20.20.40 ...conservative people in the wholeì
structure in the system...their opinions haven'tì
changed...thinking hasn't changed...democracyì
means very different things to the old style ofì
operation in SA...
20.21.22 ...the material is acceptable, thatì
people in a democracy can tolerate this sort ofì
thing that it is not inherently degrading...
20.23.12 REST OF AFRICA?
20.23.31 LOOKING FWD TO SEE ANC IN POWER -ì
COMMITMENT TO FREEDOM OF SPEECH
20.23.39 OLD SYSTEM - NO ALTERNATIVE THOUGHTì
ALLOWED
20.24.24 RE ASSHOLE OF THE MONTH COLUMN
20.25.18 GV'S RECEPTION HUSTLER OFFICES
20.29.41 BOOKS IN SHOP & EXT GV'S OF SHOP - Copyright Holder: Visnews
