TV & VIDEO - Dec. 14, 1987

South African Home Affairs Minister Stoffel Botha, who oversees the media and the handling of work permits, has called CBS News’ recent documentary on apartheid a “blatant distortion” of the truth. Botha also claimed that producer Brian Ellis had broken the law by filming in South Africa without a work permit and said he would act against the network. In New York, CBS News President Howard Stringer said he was “appalled” at the home minister’s attack on the network’s “professional standards.” The documentary, shown in the United States on Dec. 5, consisted of interviews with young South Africans, including the daughters of President P. W. Botha and Nelson Mandela, the jailed leader of the African National Congress.