by Thinus Ferreira
The ANC-secretariat in a letter to president Cyril Ramaphosa is slamming the South African public broadcaster, saying that the SABC is not doing enough to fulfill its public broadcasting mandate during the Covid-19 novel coronavirus outbreak and 21-day national lockdown period in the country and that the SABC needs to do more educational, informative and consistent broadcasting on Covid-19.
The letter, signed by Ace Magashule (ANC secretary-general), Solly Mapaila (SACP first deputy general-secretary) and Bheki Ntshalintshali (Cosatu general-secretary), says that the SABC "must marshall all its resources at its disposal and play a more active and leading role in the fight against the pandemic".
"In particular, the people need more educational, informative and consistent broadcasting on Covid-19 including live coverage of key events on SABC free-to-air television stations".
The SABC on Tuesday in response to a media enquiry told TVwithThinus that "As our country is going through trying times, the SABC as the primary carrier of public content and messaging, is firmly committed to adhering to and delivering diligently on its mandate".
"Critically, during this period the public
broadcaster's role is to ensure that millions of South Africans are provided
with important and credible information regarding Covid-19 across television,
radio and digital platforms."
"This is consistent with nationwide efforts to
reduce Covid-19 infections and curb the spread of the coronavirus."
"Also
worth noting is the SABC's partnership with the department of education (DBE)
for a learner support campaign, which is geared at delivering educational
programming during the lockdown period. Part of this campaign is underway on
SABC1, and the second phase will be rolled out from 8 April 2020 on SABC2
and SABC3."
"Furthermore, SABC News, current affairs and information programming has been extended on
free-to-air television channels and radio stations, to ensure that the public
is adequately informed about the coronavirus pandemic."
The SABC says that "In the interest of the
country and in fulfilment of its mandate, the SABC has had to displace revenue-generating
programming across platforms, to accommodate all public announcements and media
briefings relating to the Covid-19 pandemic."
"These are now carried live on the SABC's
free-to-air television channels, the SABC News (DStv 404) channel, radio stations and
digital platforms. Consistently, SABC News journalists are deployed across the
country to deliver the essential service of informing the public about all
developments regarding the pandemic."
"As
the SABC, we welcome engagement with and feedback from our stakeholders, and we
would like to reiterate our unwavering commitment to providing citizens with
valuable and factual news and information during this period."
