The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) would like to clarify some of the misrepresentation on an opinion piece featured on News 24 on Wednesday, the 04th of April 2018 with a headline 'Chris Maroleng, deepening colonisation and possible reawakening of the 'SAUK''.
The author of this article, Makhele who according to the article is said to be an African socialist and an ANC member in Mangaung in Free State Province makes a wrongful perception that Mr. Maroleng prefers international content over local content. The author further states that “With reactionary and counter-revolutionary people like Maroleng at the echelons of power, the noble idea of Radical Economic Transformation shall remain a pipe dream”. This is malicious and misleading.
The SABC would like to set the record straight in regards to its local content offering. The organization has always prioritised local content and exceeded the local content quota as set by the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA), for television and radio respectively.
In the 2016/17 fiscal, the organization was also able to deliver on its local content quotas with SABC1, SABC 2 and SABC 3 achieving 80%, 67% and 53% respectively. Across its radio stations, SABC also delivered local content above ICASA regulations.
In relation to the 90/10 local music on radio and the 80/20 local content on television, this was never a policy but a directive which was not approved as a policy by the Board of Directors. The then Interim Board had to look at this directive’s positive and negative impact and the means of mitigating the negative impact thereof. This directive distorted the licensing formats of some radio stations, leading to audience and revenue losses, the Interim Board then decided to rescind the directive as it had negative effect on the business.
Given this background, it is rather appalling for the author to insinuate that Mr. Maroleng is reversing the great progress that has been made by the SABC in the new dispensation of democracy. The author’s utterances indicate that Mr. Maroleng is taking the SABC backwards hence he/she constantly use words such as 'SAUK', 'colonisation' and 'Americanisation'.
The author further labels Mr. Maroleng as someone whose agenda is to deepen and reawaken the 'SAUK'. This perspective is not only incorrect but it undermines Mr. Maroleng as a professional in a democratic South Africa. Mr. Maroleng joined the SABC with a clear mission to ensure that the public broadcaster is counted amongst the key institutions to drive social change and democracy. Mr. Maroleng is a firm believer of promoting local talent and content.
The SABC, as a global player, operates in a competitive space and reaches to all South Africans and people beyond the borders. It is therefore justifiable to tap into international markets and appeal to diverse audiences. This does not in any way insinuate that the SABC disregard the local market.
The SABC remains committed to establishing cordial relations with local content providers. We are confident that these relations will continuously put the interests of the South African people at the forefront of our programming.
- Kaizer Kganyago is the spokesperson for the SABC.