Very oddly, the SABC is effusively covering how the SABC will effusively be covering the ANC.
The South African public broadcaster had SABC Television News do a story for Friday evening's news bulletins on how the SABC is gearing up for the ANC's National Conference in Mangaung.
The SABC News TV insert tried to instill a sense of spectacular preparations and a magnificence to the scale of operations of the SABC in Bloemfontein, making the upcoming totally over the top broadcast coverage seem like something not even done for a presidential inauguration.
ALSO READ: Dateline Mangaung: The SABC awash in a massive amount of ANC TV exposure as the public broadcaster blankets the ANC's National Conference.
About 200 SABC staff, including technicians, journalists, producers and cameramen have been deployed in Bloemfontein just for this event and outside broadcasting (OB) units have been dispatched. Security has also been beefed up.
SABC radio will be carrying half hourly and hourly broadcasts. Current affairs shows will be dissecting issues from the conference.
Keep in mind though that total editorial control over all of these talk shows and current affairs on the SABC have just been seized, by order of the SABC's chief operating officer Hlaudi Motsoeneng, and been placed under the control of the SABC News' division to ensure so-called "fairness".
There shows will not be able to report or discuss anything political or regarding the South African government, if SABC News executives don't deem it "fair". That would seem to suggest that somehow an ANC or an ANC representative will have to be present to weigh in as well.
ALSO READ: Major concern over the SABC's sudden centralisation of editorial control over SABC talk shows and current affairs.
