The SABC's famously matricless boss Hlaudi Motsoeneng has a very stern warning for SABC journalists: he will fire them if they dare to analyse the news or politics instead of just reporting facts.
"At SABC we have many good journalists within the organisation. But we also have those journalists who follow print media," Hlaudi Motsoeneng told parliament's portfolio committee on communications on Tuesday just after he went on a business trip to India.
"Because some of them, we said: 'When you're a journalist. You report the facts. You don't give your own views about whoever'. And that I'm not going to compromise as management within the organisation. We will deal with any individual, any journalists."
"Sometimes they go as analysts themselves. Analysts analysing individuals. We are saying, 'No, don't do that'. Report the facts. There are those people who analyse. Leave politics to politicians. You can't come in and other people use SABC employees to achieve whatever they want to achieve."
Hlaudi Motsoeneng told parliamentarians that the ANC will get more proportional coverage and more air-time on SABC News because it is the majority party in South Africa.
"The majority party will have more time; more cake to eat, because they represent people of South Africa."
"But also you have DA, you have EFF. Because they have certain portion of people that they represent. So we will use that to make sure that there is fairness in reporting. But we are going to dismiss people if they don't adhere to the policy of the SABC."
"We need to talk about the good. You know. We are not apologetic about the good about the country. The problem we are facing is this negativity among our own people - whether they are journalists, whether ... For them to report, you need to report about bad stories," said Hlaudi Motsoeneng.
"I don't believe South Africa is all about bad. But also I need to say to people: You know people who don't go to this other countries. Poverty is all over. It's not [just] in South Africa. You go to certain countries you will be shock (sic)."
"Actually we are a better country. Those are the issues that we need to report about. But because sometimes people they don't even go to this other countries, they think that hey, if you talk about America, if you talk about India, they are better than South Africa."
"But the day you go there. The day you went there, you realise that South Africa is better," said Hlaudi Motsoeneng.
