The Films and Publications Act, 1996 (Act No. 65 of 1996), as amended (Act), provides for the establishment of the Film and Publication Board (FPB) that is responsible for the classification of films, games and certain publications and no film or game may be distributed or exhibited in public unless it has been classified by the FPB.

The Legislature may and has, consistently with the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 (Constitution), promulgated the Act to regulate the creation, production, possession and distribution of films, games, certain publications and the internet by way of classification to:

The FPB classification regime is premised on the formulation of Classification Guidelines (Guidelines) which is informed by empirical evidence on what can be deemed harmful for adults and children. The formulation of the Guidelines entails extensive public consultations, ensuring the standards representative of societal norms, values and standards in the Guidelines. This means the Guidelines formulation process is evidence based, transparent and has accountability mechanisms, with all these essential in regulatory policy formulation of a democratic state.

Such a process is undertaken however within the framework of the Bill of Rights so as to ensure compliance with section 8(1) and (3) of the Constitution which provides with regards to the former that the Bill of Rights applies to all law, and binds the legislature, the executive, the judiciary and all organs of state and with regards to the latter that in giving effect to the Bill of Rights one must apply or if necessary develop the common law to the extent that legislation does not give effect to any right and develop rules of the common law to limit any right provided that the limitation is in accordance with section 36 (1) of the Constitution.

The FPB classifies films, games and certain publications through the provision of age-ratings and consumer advisories. This ensures that consumers of content, and particularly parents and guardians, by being informed of what may be contained therein are able to ensure that children are not prematurely exposed to harmful content that may have a socio-psychological impact on their development.

All films, games and certain publications that are distributed within the Republic of South Africa are required to be submitted to the FPB for classification. Importantly, this requirement does not extend to broadcast material and publications that fall within realm of responsibility of the Press Council. The FPB only classifies publications (such as books, paintings, magazines and so on) once a public complaint is received and therefore, these are not required for submission and pre-distribution classification.

It is important to note that the possession and distribution child pornography, and the distribution of sexually explicit content that is classified as ‘X18’ to children are criminal offences.