After years of rust, dust and neglect the SABC eye-sore signage has finally been replaced with brand-new name plates, making for a cleaner, crisper, more colourful and more professional outside image of the struggling South African public broadcaster.
For years the faded, outdated, sun-bleached and tattered SABC outside signage on the side of its Auckland Park parkade weathered and withered away, giving the public and the press an external symbolic representation of the inside of the embattled South African public broadcaster.
In relation to various reporting about the SABC, the media has to show something visual - whether in print, online or electronic media - with the exterior of the SABC that is the de facto go-to image.
As the signage kept deteriorating and faded, logos like that of channels like SABC3 and SABC News (DStv 404) became outdated, while rust, water marks and failing frames all made for an ugly, dilapidated exterior view of the SABC.
After getting another government bailout, the SABC is finally doing something about its signage and outside look and last week removed the old and ugly signs on the corner of the building except for the SABC corporate logo right at the top, and then started to replace them all.
The SABC now has until mid-January 2020 to motivate why the broadcaster should get the rest of its latest government bailout.
In October the National Treasury in South Africa approved another R3.2 billion bailout for the SABC, with R2.1 billion that was given to the SABC that was on the verge of financial collapse.
To get the other R1.1 billion the SABC has to submit further documents by 15 January 2020 as part of its latest turnaround strategy.
Question: How long will it take broadcasters and newspapers to take their own new photos and to film new archive file footage of the SABC's new signage to accurately reflect the new exterior look of the SABC?
