| (1) | Games 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) | There are no classifiable elements in the game that justify a restrictive age classification. |
| (b) | The content contains classifiable elements that have low impact, as set out below: |
| (i) | Competitive Intensity ‘CI’ – competitive intensity may have a low impact, provided that there is low impact in-game violence in third-person game play and no impact in-game violence in first-person game play; |
| (ii) | Criminal Techniques ‘CT’ – content may not contain any scenes of criminal techniques; |
| (iii) | Substance Abuse ‘D’ – content may not contain any occurrences of substance abuse, actual or implied; |
| (iv) | Horror ‘H’ – content only contains low impact occurrences of horror; |
| (v) | Imitative Acts and Techniques ‘IAT’ – content may contain occurrences of low impact imitative acts and techniques; |
| (vi) | Language ‘L’ – content may only contain occurrences of low impact language; |
| (vii) | Nudity ‘N’ – content may not contain any occurrences nudity; |
| (viii) | Prejudice ‘P’ – content may not contain occurrences or language of prejudice; |
| (ix) | Sexual conduct ‘S’ – content may not contain any occurrences of actual or implied sexual conduct, but may contain occurrences of affection; |
| (x) | Sexual violence ‘SV’ – content may not contain any occurrences of actual or implied sexual violence; and |
| (xi) | Violence ‘V’ – content may contain only low impact violence, and may not contain any occurrences of domestic violence. |
| (a) | Material classified as '7-9PG' is not appropriate for children under the age of 7. If the content is particularly entertaining or of educational value, parents or caregivers may decide whether it is appropriate for children in their care from ages 7 to 9 to play it. Children from the ages of 7 to 9 years are not allowed to play a game classified '7-9PG' unless supervised by an adult; |
| (b) | no significant single or cumulative occurrences of classifiable elements; |
| (c) | classifiable elements are not realistic; |
| (d) | limited accentuation techniques such as lighting, perspective and resolution; |
| (e) | the content is not threatening, disturbing or harmful; |
| (f) | the theme causes no moral harm; |
| (g) | occurrences of classifiable elements may be very strongly stylised and not realistic; |
| (h) | no use of incentives or rewards for classifiable elements; |
| (i) | The content may not contain themes that may be harmful or inappropriate for children under 7. The themes may be complex and mature, as long as children aged 7-9 do not find them confusing, distressing or upsetting. |
| (j) | The material contains classifiable elements that have a low to mild impact as set out below: |
| (i) | Competitive Intensity 'CI' – competitive intensity may have a mild impact, provided that there is low impact first-person game play violence and mild impact third-person game play violence. Limited occurrences of competitive intensity involving violence occur in third-person game play; |
| (ii) | Criminal Techniques 'CT' – content may not contain any occurrences of criminal techniques; |
| (iii) | Substance abuse 'D' – content may not contain occurrences of substance abuse; |
| (iv) | Horror 'H' – content only contains low impact occurrences of horror. Fantasy settings may, when appropriate, be regarded as reducing the impact; |
| (v) | Imitative Acts and Techniques 'IAT' – content may contain instances of low impact imitative acts and techniques; |
| (vi) | Language 'L' – content may only contain occurrences with low to mild impact language; |
| (vii) | Nudity 'N' – content may not contain any occurrences of nudity; |
| (viii) | Prejudice `P' – content may not contain any occurrences or language of prejudice; |
| (ix) | Sexual conduct 'S' – content may not contain any occurrences of actual, simulated or implied sexual conduct, but may contain occurrences of affection. No details, close-ups or slow motion of sexual conduct. No verbal reference or visual presentation of sexual conduct. |
| (x) | Sexual violence 'SV' – content may not contain any occurrences of actual or implied sexual violence. No verbal reference or visual presentation of sexual violence; and |
| (xi) | Violence 'V' – content may contain only low impact violence in first-person game play or mild impact violence in third-person game play, and no occurrences of domestic violence. No details, close-ups or slow motion of violence. No verbal reference or visual presentation of violence. |
| (a) | The content is not threatening, disturbing or harmful; |
| (b) | The theme causes no moral harm; |
| (c) | Limited occurrences of significant classifiable elements; |
| (d) | Occurrences of classifiable elements are not realistic; |
| (e) | No use of incentives or rewards for classifiable elements; |
| (f) | The content contains classifiable elements that have a mild impact as set out below: |
| (i) | Competitive Intensity ‘CI’ – competitive intensity may have a moderate impact, provided that there is mild impact first-person game play violence and moderate impact third-person game play violence; |
| (ii) | Criminal Techniques ‘CT’ – content may not contain any scenes of criminal techniques; |
| (iii) | Substance Abuse ‘D’ – content may not contain any occurrences of substance abuse; |
| (iv) | Horror ‘H’ – content may contain instances of mild to moderate impact horror. Fantasy or comedic horror may reduce the impact; |
| (v) | Imitative Acts and Techniques ‘IAT’ – content may contain instances of mild impact imitative acts and techniques; |
| (vi) | Language ‘L’ – content may only contain instances of mild to moderate impact language; |
| (vii) | Nudity ‘N’ – content may not contain any occurrences of nudity; |
| (viii) | Prejudice ‘P’ – content may not contain any occurrences or language of prejudice; |
| (ix) | Sexual conduct ‘S’ – content may not contain any occurrences of sexual conduct, actual, simulated or implied. No details, close-ups or slow motion of sexual conduct. No verbal reference or visual presentation of sexual conduct; |
| (x) | Sexual violence ‘SV’ – content may not contain any occurrences of actual or implied sexual violence. No verbal reference or visual presentation of sexual violence; |
| (xi) | Violence ‘V’ – content may contain only mild impact violence in first-person game play and moderate impact violence in third-person game play. If there are scenes of domestic violence, they must be justified within context, and the content must convey a strong message against it. No details, close-ups or slow motion of violence. No verbal reference or visual presentation of violence; and |
(g) Limited accentuation techniques such as lighting, perspective and resolution.
| (a) | The theme may be threatening, disturbing or harmful to children younger than 13 and may not be consumed by children under the age of 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 classifiable elements are not realistic; |
| (e) | Some use of incentives or rewards for classifiable elements; |
| (f) | Verbal reference to rather than visual presentation of certain classifiable elements, with no noticeable effect; |
| (g) | Classifiable elements form part of a bona fide story line. |
| (h) | The content contains classifiable elements that have a mild impact as set out below: |
| (i) | Competitive Intensity ‘CI’ – competitive intensity may have a moderate impact, provided that there is mild impact first-person game play violence and moderate impact third-person game play violence; |
| (ii) | Criminal Techniques ‘CT’ – content may not contain any scenes of criminal techniques; |
| (iii) | Substance Abuse ‘D’ – content may only contain low to mild impact occurrences of substance abuse. Any instances of moderate impact substance abuse must carry a suitable anti-substance abuse message; |
| (iv) | Horror ‘H’ – content may contain instances of low, mild or moderate impact horror. Fantasy or comedic horror may reduce the impact; |
| (v) | Imitative Acts and Techniques ‘IAT’ – content may contain instances of mild impact imitative acts and techniques; |
| (vi) | Language ‘L’ – content may contain instances of moderate impact strong language; |
| (vii) | Nudity ‘N’ – content may contain occurrences of low impact nudity. No details, close-ups or slow motion of nudity. Some use of incentives or rewards for classifiable elements, but not for nudity; |
| (viii) | Prejudice ‘P’ – content may not contain any occurrences or language of prejudice; |
| (ix) | Sexual conduct ‘S’ – content may contain occurrences of low to mild sexually-related activity, whether actual or implied, but no occurrences of sexual conduct. No details, close-ups or slow motion of sexual conduct. Some use of incentives or rewards for classifiable elements, but not for sexual conduct; |
| (x) | Sexual violence ‘SV’ – content may contain scenes of low impact, implied sexual violence; |
| (xi) | Violence ‘V’ – content may contain only mild impact violence in first-person game play and moderate impact violence in third-person game play. If there are scenes of domestic violence, they must be justified within context, and the content must convey a strong message against it. No details, close-ups or slow motion of violence; and |
| (i) | May contain accentuation techniques such as lighting, perspective and resolution. |
| (a) | The theme may be threatening, disturbing or harmful to children younger than 16 and may not be consumed by children under the age of 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) | Some use of incentives or rewards for classifiable elements; |
| (f) | The content contains classifiable elements that have a mild to moderate impact, with some elements having a strong impact, as set out below: |
| (i) | Competitive Intensity ‘CI’ – competitive intensity may have a moderate to strong impact, provided that there is moderate impact first-person game play violence and strong impact third-person game play violence. Occurrences of competitive intensity may involve realistic but not extreme violence (provided that it does not fall within the ‘XX’ category) and may be in first-person game play; |
| (ii) | Criminal Techniques ‘CT’ – content may contain occurrences of moderate to strong impact criminal techniques; |
| (iii) | Substance Abuse ‘D’ – content may contain moderate to strong impact occurrences of substance abuse; |
| (iv) | Horror ‘H’ – may contain occurrences of very strong impact horror; |
| (v) | Imitative Acts and Techniques ‘IAT’ – content may contain occurrences of moderate to strong imitative acts and techniques; |
| (vi) | Language ‘L’ – content may contain instances very strong language; |
| (vii) | Nudity ‘N’ – content may contain occurrences of moderate to strong impact nudity, provided that it is not related to incentives or rewards; |
| (viii) | Prejudice ‘P’ – content may contain occurrences or language of prejudice of strong to very strong impact; |
| (ix) | Sexual conduct ‘S’ – content may contain occurrences of sexual conduct, actual or implied, provide that it is not related to incentives or rewards May contain details, close-ups or slow motion of sexual conduct; |
| (x) | Sexual violence ‘SV’ – content may contain occurrences of actual moderate to strong sexual violence. May contain details, close-ups or slow motion of sexual violence; |
| (xi) | Violence ‘V’ – content may contain strong to very strong impact violence in first-person game play, very strong impact violence in third-person game play; and |
| (g) | May use accentuation techniques such as lighting, perspective and resolution. |
| (a) | The theme may be threatening, disturbing or harmful to children; |
| (b) | The theme may cause moral harm to children; |
| (c) | Single or cumulative occurrences of classifiable elements; |
| (d) | Occurrences of classifiable elements may be realistic; |
| (e) | Some use of incentives or rewards for classifiable elements; |
| (f) | The content contains classifiable elements that have a mild to moderate impact, with some elements having a strong impact, as set out below: |
| (i) | Competitive Intensity ‘CI’ – competitive intensity may have a moderate to strong impact, provided that there is strong to very strong impact first-person game play violence and very strong impact third-person game play violence. Occurrences of competitive intensity may involve realistic and extreme violence (provided that it does not fall within the ‘XX’ category) and may be in first-person game play; |
| (ii) | Criminal Techniques ‘CT’ – content may contain occurrences of moderate to strong impact criminal techniques; |
| (iii) | Substance Abuse ‘D’ – content may contain moderate to strong impact occurrences of substance abuse; |
| (iv) | Horror ‘H’ – may contain occurrences of very strong impact horror; |
| (v) | Imitative Acts and Techniques ‘IAT’ – content may contain occurrences of moderate to strong imitative acts and techniques; |
| (vi) | Language ‘L’ – content may contain instances very strong language; |
| (vii) | Nudity ‘N’ – content may contain occurrences of moderate to strong impact nudity, provided that it is not related to incentives or rewards; |
| (viii) | Prejudice ‘P’ – content may contain occurrences or language of prejudice of strong to very strong impact; |
| (ix) | Sexual conduct ‘S’ – content may contain occurrences of sexual conduct, actual or implied, provide that it is not related to incentives or rewards. May contain details, close-ups or slow motion of sexual conduct; |
| (x) | Sexual violence ‘SV’ – content may contain occurrences of actual moderate to strong sexual violence. May contain details, close-ups or slow motion of sexual violence; |
| (xi) | Violence ‘V’ – content may contain strong to very strong impact violence in first-person game play, very strong impact violence in third-person game play; and |
| (g) | May use accentuation techniques such as lighting, perspective and resolution. |
| (8) | Refused Classification |
| (a) | Any content that contains propaganda for war or incitement of imminent violence, or that 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. |
| (b) | However, if judged within context, the content has scientific, literary or artistic merit, or is on a matter of public interest, it must be classified accordingly. |
| (c) | Any content that constitutes child pornography must be immediately reported to the South African Police Services by the Chief Executive Officer. There are no exceptions or exemptions for the possession, distribution, sale or hire of child pornography, which is illegal under all circumstances. |
| (9) | Restricted Distribution Content – XX |
| (a) | Games must be classified ‘XX’ if they depict the following, as set out in section 18 of the Act: |
| (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) | Conduct or an act which constitutes incitement of, encourages or promotes, harmful behaviour; |
| (iv) | Explicit infliction of sexual or domestic violence, or |
| (v) | Explicit visual presentations of extreme violence; |
Unless judged within context, the film is a bona fide documentary or is of scientific, dramatic or artistic merit, or in on a matter of public interest, in which case the content shall be classified with reference to the relevant guidelines relating to the protection of children from exposure to disturbing, harmful or age-inappropriate content.
| (b) | The interpretation of 9(9)(a)(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 and sexual violence; |
| (iii) | Any content, including occurrences or dialogue, likely to encourage an interest in harmful paraphilia and sexual violence; |
| (iv) | Any sexual violence or sexual conduct related to incentives or rewards; |
| (v) | Gratuitous, exploitative or offensive depictions of violence with an extreme impact or that are excessively frequent, prolonged or detailed, including cruelty to either humans or animals, or real occurrences of violence, that are very detailed and that have an extreme impact; |
| (vi) | Detailed instruction in the use of proscribed drugs, and content promoting or encouraging proscribed drug or substance abuse related to incentives or rewards; |
| (vii) | 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 composmentis (‘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. |
| (10) | Restricted Distribution Content – X18 |
| (a) | Any content that contains explicit sexual conduct between consenting adults must be classified as ‘X18’ unless, judged within context, it has scientific, dramatic or artistic merit, or is on a matter of public interest, in which case it must be classified with reference to the relevant guidelines relating to the protection of children from exposure to disturbing, harmful or age-inappropriate contents. |
| (b) | Any content that, in addition to explicit sexual conduct, contains any content referred to in section 25(2) above and has an extreme impact, may be classified as ‘XX’. |
| (c) | Any content that is classified as ‘X18’ must be notified to the Chief Executive Officer to be published by notice in the Gazette, together with the reasons for the decision. |
| (d) | Any content that, in addition to explicit sexual conduct, contains any classifiable element that has an impact as et out below, must be classified as X18: |
| (i) | Very strong competitive intensity in games combined with very strong or extreme level of first-person and third-person game play violence; |
| (ii) | Any nudity or sexually-related activity related to incentives or rewards; |
| (iii) | Extreme impact third-person game play violence and very strong impact first-person game play; |
| (iv) | Any very strong impact criminal techniques; and |
| (v) | Any very strong impact initiative behaviour (where appropriate) |
| (e) | Any content that is classified as X18 must be notified to the Chief Executive Officer to be published by notice in the Gazette, together with the reasons for the decision. |
