The Sabido-run 24-hour TV news channel is picking up and talking over the public current affairs show after the SABC's matricless acting chief operating officer (COO) Hlaudi Motsoeneng unilaterally ordered The Big Debate off the air a month ago just before it was supposed to start its second season on SABC2.
The matricless Hlaudi Motsoeneng also ordered all repeats of The Big Debate stopped. The current affairs talk show had already filmed episodes and kept filming episodes.
The SABC's daft decision which the public broadcaster admitted was its own fault in that the SABC "incorrectly commissioned" The Big Debate and which the SABC said "compromised the SABC newsroom", led to a huge public outcry.
An organised public protest at the end of October followed at the SABC's Auckland Park headquarters triggered by growing concerns within South Africa about the suppression of freedom of speech at the SABC. Critics once again pointing fingers to how far South Africa's public broadcaster has fallen from the mandate it is supposed to deliver on.
Now the The Big Debate is moving to the eNCA with the 10 new episodes of a second season which will also be broadcast on e.tv from a slightly later date.
Although the pick-up solves one issue - returning a relevant, hard-hitting current affairs talk show to the air in South Africa, it doesn't address the SABC's ongoing erosion of quality current affairs programming and unbiased news delivery ahead of South Africa's next general election in 2014.
The eNCA has not yet officially confirmed that the 24-hour news channel has taken over The Big Debate but upcoming topics to be discussed on The Big Debate this new season will include the problems with public transport and government corruption.
