| (1) | Films are classified into categories on the basis of: |
| (b) | Impact of the classifiable elements; and |
| (2) | All three requirements must be considered and content that is rated in any category should fulfil all stated requirements. Should it not, classifiers should consider the higher or lower category, depending on the merits. |
| (a) | The content does not contain any themes that may be disturbing, harmful, upsetting or inappropriate for any children. It has a low sense of threat or menace; |
| (b) | There are no classifiable elements in the film that justify a restrictive age classification; and |
| (c) | The release format has no impact. |
| (a) | The content does not contain any themes that may be disturbing, harmful, upsetting or inappropriate for any children. It has a low sense of threat or menace; |
| (b) | The content is not threatening, disturbing or harmful; |
| (c) | The theme causes no moral harm; |
| (d) | No impactful single or cumulative occurrences of classifiable elements; |
| (e) | Classifiable elements are not realistic; |
| (f) | The content contains classifiable elements that have a low impact, as set out below: |
| (i) | Criminal Techniques ‘CT’ – content may not contain any scenes of criminal techniques; |
| (ii) | Substance abuse ‘D’ – content may not contain any scenes of implied, verbal or actual substance abuse ; |
| (iii) | Horror ‘H’ – content may contain only scenes of implied, verbal or actual low impact horror; |
| (iv) | Imitative Acts and Techniques ‘IAT’ – content may contain only scenes of implied, verbal or actual low impact imitative acts and techniques ; |
| (v) | Language ‘L’ – content may contain only scenes of implied, verbal or actual low impact imitative acts and techniques ; |
| (vi) | Nudity ‘N’ – content may contain only scenes of implied, verbal or actual low impact nudity in non-sexual contexts ; |
| (vii) | Prejudice ‘P’ – content may not contain any scenes of implied, verbal or actual prejudice ; |
| (viii) | Sexual conduct ‘S’ – content may not contain any scenes of implied, verbal or actual sexual conduct, but may contain scenes of affection ; |
| (ix) | Sexual violence ‘SV’ – content may not contain any scenes of implied, verbal or actual sexual violence ; |
| (x) | Violence ‘V’ – content may contain only scenes of implied, verbal or actual low impact violence, and may not contain any scenes of implied, verbal or actual domestic violence ; and |
| (g) | Limited accentuation techniques such as lighting, perspective and resolution. |
| (a) | The content must be particularly entertaining and/or of educational value, to enable parents or caregivers to decide whether it is appropriate for children in their care from ages 7 to 9 to see it. Children from the ages of 7 to 9 years are not allowed to watch a film classified ‘7-9PG’ unless and only when accompanied by an adult. |
| (b) | The content is not threatening, disturbing or harmful to children aged 7 and older; |
| (c) | The theme causes no moral harm to children aged 7 and older; |
| (d) | The content may contain complex and mature themes that may require parental guidance to mitigate potential harm; |
| (e) | Limited occurrences of significant classifiable elements; |
| (f) | Classifiable elements may be realistic; |
| (g) | The content contains classifiable elements that have a low or mild impact as set out below: |
| (i) | Criminal Techniques ‘CT’ – content may not contain any scenes of implied, verbal or actual criminal techniques; |
| (ii) | Substance abuse ‘D’ – content may contain only scenes of implied, verbal or actual low impact substance abuse if they are justified by the context and carry a suitable anti-substance abuse message; |
| (iii) | Horror ‘H’ – content may contain only scenes of implied, verbal or actual low impact horror. A fantasy setting may, when appropriate, be regarded as reducing impact; |
| (iv) | Imitative Acts and Techniques ‘IAT’ – content may contain only scenes of implied, verbal or actual low impact imitative acts and techniques; |
| (v) | Language ‘L’ – content may contain only scenes of implied, verbal or actual low to mild impact language; |
| (vi) | Nudity ‘N’ – content may contain only scenes of implied, verbal or actual low to mild impact nudity in non-sexual contexts ; |
| (vii) | Prejudice ‘P’ – content may contain only scenes of implied, verbal or actual low impact prejudice, if it is clearly disapproved and used in an educational, dramatic or historical context; |
| (viii) | Sexual conduct ‘S’ – content may not contain any scenes of implied, verbal or actual sexual conduct, but may contain scenes of affection; |
| (ix) | Sexual violence ‘SV’ – content may not contain any scenes of implied, verbal or actual sexual violence; |
| (x) | Violence ‘V’ – content may contain only scenes of implied, verbal or actual low to mild impact violence. If there are scenes of implied, verbal or actual low to mild impact domestic violence, they must be justified within context, and the content must convey a strong message against it; and |
| (h) | Limited accentuation techniques such as lighting, perspective and resolution. |
| (a) | The content must be particularly entertaining and/or of educational value, to enable parents or caregivers to decide whether it is appropriate for children in their care from ages 10 to 12 to see it. Children from the ages of 10 to 12 years are not allowed to watch a film classified ‘10-12PG’ unless and only when accompanied by an adult. |
| (b) | The content may be threatening, disturbing or harmful to children aged 10 and older; |
| (c) | The theme causes no moral harm to children aged 10 and older; |
| (d) | The content may contain complex and mature themes that may require parental guidance to mitigate potential harm; |
| (e) | If the content has a pro-social element, even if assessed as a moderate impact it may be viewed by children 10 to 12-year-old in the presence of an adult; |
| (f) | Classifiable elements form part of a bona fide story line; |
| (g) | Single or cumulative occurrences of classifiable elements; |
| (h) | Occurrences of significant classifiable elements may be realistic; |
| (i) | The content either contains no classifiable elements or has a low to mild impact, with some elements having a moderate impact, as illustrated below: |
| (i) | Criminal Techniques ‘CT’ – content may not contain any scenes of implied, verbal or actual criminal techniques; |
| (ii) | Substance abuse ‘D’ – content may contain only scenes of implied, verbal or actual low to mild impact occurrences of substance abuse. Content may contain scenes of implied, verbal or actual instances of moderate impact substance abuse only if, contextually, it carries a suitable anti-substance abuse message; |
| (iii) | Horror ‘H’ – content may contain only scenes of implied, verbal or actual mild to moderate impact horror; |
| (iv) | Imitative Acts and Techniques ‘IAT’ – content may contain only scenes of implied, verbal or actual mild impact imitative acts and techniques; |
| (v) | Language ‘L’ – content may contain only scenes of implied, verbal or actual mild impact language; |
| (vi) | Nudity ‘N’ – content may contain only scenes of implied, verbal, or actual low impact nudity in sexual contexts; |
| (vii) | Prejudice ‘P’ – content may contain only scenes of implied, verbal or actual low impact prejudice, if it is clearly disapproved and used in an educational, dramatic or historical context; |
| (viii) | Sexual conduct ‘S’ – content may contain only scenes of implied or verbal low impact sexual conduct, but no scene of actual sexual conduct; |
| (ix) | Sexual violence ‘SV’ – content may not contain any scenes of implied, verbal or actual sexual violence; |
| (x) | Violence ‘V’ – content may contain only scenes of implied or verbal mild to moderate impact violence but may not contain scenes of actual mild to moderate impact violence. If there are scenes of implied or verbal mild to moderate impact domestic violence, they must be justified within context, and the content must convey a strong message against it; and |
| (j) | May contain accentuation techniques such as lighting, perspective and resolution. |
| (a) | The content may be threatening, disturbing or harmful to children younger than 13; |
| (b) | The theme causes no moral harm to children aged 13 and older; |
| (c) | Single or cumulative occurrences of classifiable elements; |
| (d) | Occurrences of significant classifiable elements may be realistic; |
| (e) | Classifiable elements form part of a bona fide story line; |
| (f) | The content may contain low to mild impact classifiable elements, with some elements having a moderate impact, as set out below: |
| (i) | Criminal Techniques ‘CT’ – content may not contain any scenes of implied, verbal or actual criminal techniques ; |
| (ii) | Substance abuse ‘D’ – content may contain only scenes of implied, verbal or actual mild to moderate impact substance abuse. Content may contain scenes of implied, verbal or actual instances of moderate impact substance abuse only if, contextually, it carries a suitable anti-substance abuse message; |
| (iii) | Horror ‘H’ – content may contain only scenes of implied, verbal or actual moderate impact horror; |
| (iv) | Imitative Acts and Techniques ‘IAT’ – content may contain only scenes of implied, verbal or actual moderate impact imitative acts and techniques; |
| (v) | Language ‘L’ – content may contain only scenes of implied, verbal or actual moderate impact language; |
| (vi) | Nudity ‘N’ – content may contain only scenes of implied, verbal or actual mild impact nudity in sexual contexts; |
| (vii) | Prejudice ‘P’ – content may contain only scenes of implied, verbal or actual mild impact prejudice, if it is clearly disapproved and used in an educational, dramatic or historical context; |
| (viii) | Sexual conduct ‘S’ – content may contain only scenes of implied or verbal mild to moderate impact sexual conduct, but no scenes of actual sexual conduct; |
| (ix) | Sexual violence ‘SV’ – content may contain only scenes of implied or verbal low impact sexual violence, with no noticeable effects, but no scenes of actual sexual violence; |
| (x) | Violence ‘V’ – content may contain only scenes of implied or verbal moderate impact violence but may not contain scenes of actual moderate impact violence. If there are scenes of implied or verbal moderate impact domestic violence, they must be justified within context, and the content must convey a strong message against it; and |
| (g) | May contain accentuation techniques such as lighting, perspective and resolution. |
| (a) | The content may be threatening, disturbing or harmful to children older than 16; |
| (b) | The theme may not cause moral harm to children of 16 and older; |
| (c) | Single or cumulative occurrences of significant classifiable elements; |
| (d) | Occurrences of classifiable elements may be realistic; |
| (e) | Classifiable elements form part of a bona fide story line; |
| (f) | The content contains classifiable elements that have a moderate impact, with some elements having a strong impact, as set out below: |
| (i) | Criminal Techniques ‘CT’ – content may contain only scenes of implied, verbal or actual moderate impact criminal techniques; |
| (ii) | Substance abuse ‘D’ – content may contain only scenes of implied, verbal or actual moderate impact substance abuse. Content may contain scenes of implied, verbal or actual instances of strong impact substance abuse only if, contextually, it carries a suitable anti-substance abuse message; |
| (iii) | Horror ‘H’ – content may contain only scenes of implied, verbal or actual strong impact horror; |
| (iv) | Imitative Acts and Techniques ‘IAT’ – content may contain only scenes of implied, verbal or actual strong impact imitative acts and techniques; |
| (v) | Language ‘L’ – content may contain only scenes of implied, verbal or actual strong impact language; |
| (vi) | Nudity ‘N’ – content may contain only scenes of implied, verbal or actual moderate impact nudity in sexual contexts; |
| (vii) | Prejudice ‘P’ – content may contain only scenes of implied, verbal or actual moderate impact prejudice, if it is clearly disapproved and used in an educational, dramatic or historical context; |
| (viii) | Sexual conduct ‘S’ – content may contain only scenes of implied, verbal or actual moderate impact sexual conduct, or occasional scenes of implied, verbal or actual strong impact sexual conduct; |
| (ix) | Sexual violence ‘SV’ – content may contain only scenes of implied or verbal moderate impact sexual violence, but no scenes of actual moderate impact sexual violence; |
| (x) | Violence ‘V’ – content may contain only scenes of implied, verbal or actual strong impact violence. Content may contain scenes of detail, close-ups or slow motion of violence. If there are scenes of implied, verbal or actual strong impact Domestic Violence, they must be justified within context, and the content must convey a strong message against it; and |
| (g) | May contain accentuation techniques such as lighting, perspective and resolution of sexually-related activity, sexual conduct or violence. |
| (a) | The content may be threatening, disturbing or harmful to children; |
| (b) | The theme may cause moral harm to adult; |
| (c) | Single or cumulative occurrences of classifiable elements; |
| (d) | Occurrences of classifiable elements may be realistic; |
| (e) | May contain graphic details, close-ups or slow motion of sexually-related activity, sexual conduct or violence; |
| (f) | Verbal reference or visual presentation of certain classifiable elements such as sexually-related activity, sexual conduct or violence, but not explicit sexual violence; |
| (g) | Classifiable elements do not necessarily form part of a bona fide story line; |
| (h) | The content contains classifiable elements that have a strong to very strong impact, as set out below: |
| (i) | Criminal Techniques ‘CT’ – content may contain only scenes of verbal or actual strong impact criminal techniques techniques; |
| (ii) | Substance abuse ‘D’ – content may contain only scenes of implied, verbal or actual strong impact substance abuse; |
| (iii) | Horror ‘H’ – content may contain only scenes of implied, verbal or actual very strong impact horror; |
| (iv) | Imitative Acts and Techniques ‘IAT’ – content may only contain scenes of implied, verbal or actual very strong impact imitative acts and techniques; |
| (v) | Language ‘L’ – content may contain only scenes of implied, verbal or actual very strong impact language; |
| (vi) | Nudity ‘N’ – content may contain only scenes of implied, verbal or actual strong impact nudity in sexual contexts; |
| (vii) | Prejudice ‘P’ – content may contain only scenes of implied, verbal or actual strong impact prejudice; |
| (viii) | Sexual conduct ‘S’ – content may contain only scenes of verbal or actual strong to very strong impact sexual conduct, but may not contain scenes of implied, verbal or actual explicit sexual conduct; |
| (ix) | Sexual violence ‘SV’ – content may contain only scenes of implied, verbal or actual strong impact sexual violence but may not contain scenes of implied, verbal or actual explicit sexual violence; |
| (x) | Violence ‘V’ – content may contain only scenes of implied, verbal or actual strong to very strong impact violence. Content may contain scenes of detail, close-ups or slow-motion violence; and |
| (i) | May use accentuation techniques such as lighting, perspective and resolution. |
| (10) | Refused Classification |
| (i) | Contains child pornography, propaganda for war or incites imminent violence; or |
| (ii) | advocates hatred based on any identifiable group characteristic, and that constitutes incitement to cause harm, |
must be refused classification and be reported to the Chief Executive Officer to be published the Gazette unless, judged within context, the film is a bona fide documentary, is of scientific, dramatic or artistic merit or is on a matter of public interest, in which event the film shall be classified with reference to the guidelines relating to the protection of children from exposure to disturbing, harmful or age inappropriate materials.
| (b) | Where a film has been classified as a “refused classification”, the Chief Executive Officer shall cause that classification decision to be published by notice in the Gazette, together with the reasons for the decision. |
| (c) | Where a film submitted to the FPB in terms of this section contains child pornography, the Chief Executive Officer shall refer that film to a police official of the South African Police Service for investigation and prosecution. |
| (11) | Restricted Distribution Content – 'XX' |
| (a) | Films must be classified ‘XX’ if it contains— |
| (i) | explicit sexual conduct which violates or shows disrespect for the right to human dignity of any person; |
| (ii) | bestiality, incest, rape conduct or an act which is degrading of human beings; |
| (iii) | explicit infliction of domestic violence; or |
| (iv) | explicit visual presentations of extreme violence; |
unless, in respect of the film, judged within context, is a bona fide documentary or is of scientific, dramatic or artistic merit, in which event the film shall be classified with reference to the relevant guidelines relating to the protection of children from exposure to disturbing, harmful or age inappropriate materials.
| (b) | The interpretation of subsection (11)(b)(i)-(v) above includes instances of: |
| (i) | Detailed instruction or promotion of matters of crime or violence; |
| (ii) | Gratuitous, exploitative or offensive depictions of sexual conduct as well as harmful paraphilia; |
| (iii) | Any content, including scenes or dialogue, likely to encourage an interest in harmful paraphilia and sexual violence; |
| (iv) | Gratuitous, exploitative or offensive depictions of violence with an extreme impact or that are excessively frequency, prolonged or detailed, including cruelty to either humans or animals, or real scenes of violence that are very detailed and that have an extreme impact; |
| (v) | Detailed instruction in the use of proscribed drugs, and content promoting, or encouraging proscribed drug use; |
| (vi) | Apparent lack of consent for any party who participates in sexually related activity, sexual conduct or explicit sexual conduct and who appears to be non compos mentis (‘not of sound mind’- e.g. in a drug or alcohol-induced state, or mentally ill). |
| (c) | Any content that has been classified as ‘XX’ must be reported to the Chief Executive Officer to be published by notice in the Gazette, together with the reasons for the decision. |
| (12) | Restricted Distribution Content – 'X18' |
| (a) | Films must be classified as ‘X18’ if it contains explicit sexual conduct, unless, judged within context , the film is a bona fide documentary or is of scientific, dramatic or artistic merit, in which event the film shall be classified with reference to the relevant guidelines relating to the protection of children from exposure to disturbing, harmful or age inappropriate materials. |
| (b) | Any content that, in addition to explicit sexual conduct, contains any content referred to in subsection (11)(a)(i) above and has an extreme impact, may be classified as ‘XX’; |
| (c) | Where a film has been classified as ‘X18’, the Chief Executive Officer shall cause that classification decision to be published by notice in the Gazette, together with the reasons for the decision. |
