The SABC's controversial and famously matricless Hlaudi Motsoeneng has again, for the 6th time publicly, called for the media in South Africa to be regulated and for South African journalists to be licensed.
On eNCA (DStv 403) in an interview with reporter Nickolaus Bauer, the SABC's embattled and scandal-riddled chief operating officer (COO) - who shouldn't actually be speaking to editorial matters of the South African public broadcaster at all since it falls outside his job description - again called for press regulation and for journalists to be policed.
It follows after Hlaudi Motsoeneng's 5th call for the licensing of journalists last week on Insig on kykNET (DStv 144) with Waldimar Pelser - in a cringe-worthy bad interview that commentators are calling "brutal and awful to watch" - with Hlaudi Motsoeneng saying he wants to see journalists regulated.
In that same highly embarrassing interview for Hlaudi Motsoeneng and the SABC, the public broadcaster's second highest executive who is also involved in a lengthy court battle over his controversial appointment, also said the media shouldn't report on crime since it leads to more crime being committed.
Respected and veteran media experts are saying Hlaudi Motsoeneng is completely out of line.
Nickolaus Bauer sat down with veteran newspaper man Joe Thloloe and Press Council executive director, saying the utterances by the SABC's Hlaudi Motsoeneng is the same as "what the National Party (NP) used to say during the days of Apartheid".
"They were saying if we report on the violence in our streets, violence related to apartheid, we were in fact encouraging terrorism," Joe Thloloe told Nickolaus Bauer on eNCA.
"If you have more positive stories, you will be able to produce the better leaders of tomorrow," Hlaudi Motsoeneng told Nickolaus Bauer in another sit down interview in his report. Hlaudi Motsoeneng warned that South Africa's journalists will be policed in future.
Media Monitoring Africa (MMA) has 3 lessons for Hlaudi Motsoeneng who says the SABC's matricless boss is placing media freedom in South Africa at risk.
The wonderful William Bird, media expert, wrote this thoughtful and extremely insightful think piece which is a must-read article and also addresses the daft Hlaudi Motsoeneng's latest debilitating and damaging utterances.
Read the whole article, but here's just a few stand-out sentences from William Bird:
'Hlaudi Motsoeneng was simply speaking on issues that he really should not be speaking on for our public broadcaster."
"Areas in which we may expect informed responses from an SABC COO are the SABC's financial position; why the National Intelligence Agency was sweeping the SABC offices in Durban; how the SABC is implementing the recommendations of the auditor-general; or the Special Investigating Unit or even those of the public protector," writes William Bird.
" If it was editorial matters: how about what's going on with the SABC’s revised editorial policies which are now six years overdue. (Yes, SIX years!) The delay is all the more bizarre because they were reportedly finished and revised months ago. Instead we are left gawping at the ludicrous."
"The real issue of why the SABC COO is speaking on these issues is not addressed nor are any answers given by the COO himself. Think about this – how many COOs of any other media house can you name, let alone identify in the media recently? Then ask why that is."
