So here it is! After much talk. The SABC’s 24-Hour News Channel. We must now make it work. Not just the SABC, but all of us who can play a role. Of course, the SABC is independent, but it’s a public broadcaster, and we must play our roles taking both these key aspects into account.
The SABC Charter, of course, commits the public broadcaster to produce and broadcast programming that:
- Reflects South African attitudes, opinions, ideas, values and artistic creativity.
- Displays South African talent in educational and entertaining programmes.
- Offers a plurality of views and a variety of news, information and analysis from a South African point of view.
- Advances the national and public interest.
It is in terms of this broad mandate aims that the 24-hour news channel has to be located. There is much talk about the income and other material divides in our society. But we do not talk much – hardly, really – about the information divide.
Yet in this information age, this knowledge society era, information and knowledge are crucial to reducing social inequalities. So the public broadcaster has a more important role than ever to get information to people, especially the poor and disadvantaged. It is the public broadcaster of all broadcasters that most has the responsibility to do this.
Which is why it’s important to stress, lest it is misunderstood, that this 24-hour news channel, launched today on pay-tv, will be free-to-air as digital migration is rolled out. That all who have access to television will be able to watch it, if they want.
This role is what is expected of the SABC in terms of the Broadcasting Act, that it ensures that not only the elite but all South African citizens, regardless of their social or economic standing, can access quality news broadcasting. The SABC needs to do more, it seems to me, to make it clear to the public that the new channel will be available on free-to-air in time.
The SABC’s mandate is to “advance the national and public interest”. Ours is an emerging, developing democracy. And for all the progress made since 1994, ours is in some senses a fragile democracy. The SABC has an important role in contributing to social cohesion and nation-building, and consolidating our democracy, in the interests of the country as a whole, of the people generally.
As part of creating unity, it’s important to give expression to diversity. And it’s particularly good that the new channel will offer news in the different indigenous languages far more than is the case at the moment. And if it fulfils its potential, South Africans will learn more about their country because the SABC will take them to places they have never been to and places they never knew existed.
The SABC, because of its size and reach, has to produce news that is informative and entertaining. This news should also empower citizens to know which doors to knock on when they are faced with challenges. It should empower citizens with knowledge and information on how they can improve their lives.
The new channel has an important role too on the continent. In 2000 Cabinet discussed the role and social obligations of the SABC, particularly the need to formulate new editorial policies and strategies on how it was going to play a role in contributing to the agenda for Africa’s development.
Of course, there are questions being raised about the public broadcaster’s decision to launch the new 24-hour news channel on pay TV. As we in the Department of Communications (DoC) have been informed about the SABC’s case, it is that the pay TV platform would afford the SABC access to decision makers who largely consume TV content via the Dstv platform.
The platform would also offer a new option for advertisers looking to sell their products to the lucrative market that pay TV subscribers represent. The channel has a chance of accessing those revenues, ensuring that it remains viable and sustainable. We also hope that the SABC will use this opportunity to win back most of market share and its audience, and, over time, grow in strength. So we wish the SABC well!
Ours is a vibrant, robust developing democracy. People are free to express their views. Understandably, there are concerns about the financial sustainability of the new-24 hour channel and the implications of the contract the SABC has with MultiChoice.
These are difficult economic times and the national budget is stressed. So the concerns are understandable. We have had public-private partnerships (PPPs) for many years now in our new democracy. We have to learn the lessons from them, drawing on the strengths of those that have worked and avoiding the weaknesses of those that have failed.
One of the tasks of the Joint Task Team established between the SABC, DoC, National Treasury and the Auditor-General’s Office is to engage further on the new PPP as part of the SABC’s overall strategy and its long-term financial sustainability.
Of course, there will be challenges. But if we all pull together we can make it work. We need to make it a success. Not in the interests of the government or the majority party, but in the country’s interest. As the DoC we will play our part. We call on all of you who have a role to play yours.
