‘Devil’ TV series uproar continues with flood of ‘hate mail’

Controversy still surrounds a “satanic” drama series being aired on M-Net.

In protest against the Broadcasting Complaints Commission of South Africa’s (BCCSA) ruling that the series, Lucifer, should not be removed, outraged DStv subscribers have apparently sent “hate e-mails” to the commission.

Christian leaders from various organisations, including the Apostolic Faith Mission of South Africa (AFM) with a claimed following of 1.4 million followers, Full Gospel Church of God SA, Pentecostal Protestant Church SA and Lewende Woord (Living Word) SA have criticised M-Net’s portrayal of the devil as a “cool and misunderstood individual”.

The drama series caused a stir when broadcast early last month. Following the public outcry, it was moved from Wednesdays at 7pm to Friday (11pm) on M-Net Edge (DStv 102) channel.

A BCCSA official, who asked not to be named, said she had “been receiving hate mails” after the commission’s ruling.

She said BCCSA dismissed the complaint because the series did not portray hate speech towards Christians. She said it was about a murder being solved.

According to the official, M-Net had said that prior to broadcasting, they consulted Christian organisations who “supported the series”.

Speaking on behalf of the Christian organisations, AFM SA president Isak Burger urged M-Net to remove the “dangerous Lucifer series from television”.

He said moving the series to Friday nights in the graveyard slot, increasing the age limit to 16, and being available on DStv catchup would not “mitigate the potential harm to youngsters”.