Staff Reporter
A LOCAL reality TV programme, which has for some time captured the screams of sirens in swerving highway escapades and the odd beer bottle shatter in the daunting presence of the Namibian police, has landed on the court roll after a citizen claimed that the programme breached her constitutional right to privacy and violated her dignity.
The programme, which airs every Friday night and is owned by local radio station COPPS 94.1, has been dragged to court after a woman claimed that media personnel from the programme entered her residence without permission and filmed her secretly.
In an affidavit, the woman, Sarah Abrahams (real name withheld), said that on 20 February 2026 she was assaulted by two men, members of the Deo Gloria Reformed Church, and that she had returned home and subsequently called the police.
She added that shortly after the Namibian police arrived, COPPS 94.1 unlawfully entered her residential premises and private property without consent and refused to leave, and that a total of 15 accomplices entered.
She further said that the camera crew refused to leave and proceeded to record the entire proceedings, both inside and outside her premises.
“Outside of the premises was a man with a professional video recording camera, working with COPPS 94.1. This man hid a large camera/video recording device under a cloth while unlawfully recording what was transpiring inside the premises and private property,” Abrahams said.
She added that the hiding of the camera under a white sheet was done to prevent the unlawful recording from being noticed, but that the attempt to conceal the recording was not inconspicuous enough and was noticed by her father.
Abrahams said that she physically tried to take away the camera equipment and that thereafter an emergency services worker injected her with a drug which caused an allergic reaction.
“The victims who are being recorded’s constitutional rights, such as privacy and dignity, are violated in the process. No regard is had for the dignity, privacy, and other constitutional rights of those being recorded, whether victim, perpetrator, or bystander. The recordings are taken and thereafter published on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and other monetised platforms,” Abrahams said.
She has thus asked the High Court to interdict the media houses involved from publishing the material recorded on that fateful evening, as well as to prevent them from ever entering her residence without permission and filming her.
Picture for illustrative purposes only. Photo: COPPS 94.1
