Opposition parties today demanded an inquiry into why the state-run television company helped finance an anti-communist film on which President P.W. Botha's daughter was production coordinator. The film, ``Back To Freedom,'' opened in South Africa last week and has been panned by critics as an amateurish propaganda exercise. The far-right Conservative Party called for appointment of a commission to investigate the South African Broadcasting Corp.'s involvement in the production. Parliament member Dave Dalling, spokesman for the liberal Progressive Federal Party, said the film company involved was owned by a friend of President Botha's. Dalling asked who authorized the SABC to provide more than $1 million to finance the film. Botha's daughter, Rozanne, was production coordinator of the film, but in the credits her last name is given as ``Both'' instead of Botha. The film's scriptwriter, a university professor, also used a pseudonym. The controversy over the film was sparked by reports in Sunday newspapers that the Cabinet minister formerly in charge of the SABC, Alvyn Schlebusch, had recommended the corporation withhold the final installment of its payment to Mimosa Films, more than $200,000, because the film was substandard. According to the reports, President Botha overruled Schlebusch and ordered the payment be made. Schlebusch subsequently resigned. The Cabinet minister who now oversees the SABC, Stoffel van der Merve, said the broadcasting company's involvement in the film was legitimate. The SABC, in return for its financing, was to get all profits from domestic box-office receipts and half of overseas profits. The movie plot is based loosely on the current civil war in Angola, in which South African-backed rebels are fighting the Soviet- and Cuban-supported troops of Angola's Marxist government. South African military equipment was used in the film, and dozens of soldiers reportedly served as extras. The Sunday Times newspaper said the script was believed to have been submitted to Angolan rebel leader Jonas Savimbi for approval.
