by Thinus Ferreira
The South African public broadcaster has once again failed to reach any agreement or to sign any contract with Cricket South Africa which will lead to a SABC TV blackout for viewers from today for the latest Australian cricket tour.
The SABC will not broadcast any of the latest limited-over Australian tour of South Africa after the SABC failed to sign any contract with Cricket SA for any of the three T20I and three one-day international matches.
The first match in the T20 series will be taking place today at 18:00 at Kingsmead in Durban and the tour will be shown on SuperSport for DStv pay-TV subscribers.
The SABC constantly tells parliament that it should be allowed to broadcast sport of national importance and of South Africa's national teams and that the reason it's not doing so is because it's prevented from acquiring content due to MultiChoice and SuperSport snapping up all the rights.
There's been no statement and no comment from the SABC about not showing the South African Australian cricket tour.
Meanwhile Cricket SA, hilariously and ironically, has the audacity to claim in a statement that while the cricket is not on the SABC, that it is "commitment to making cricket accessible to all South Africans". Since the cricket is not on the SABC, that is exactly what Cricket SA is failing to do.
Cricket SA in a statement says that "After protracted negotiations, the two parties could unfortunately not reach agreeable terms to secure broadcast rights in time to cover the tour".
"While CSA is disappointed at the prospect of many South Africans missing out on coverage of the thrill of the much-awaited Australia series, it reaffirms its commitment to making cricket accessible to all South Africans".
"Consequently, CSA will continue to engage with the SABC to find common ground on the broadcasting of cricket content."
"This is as the public broadcaster pursues to fulfil its mandate of providing cricket coverage for the majority of South Africans, while CSA is unwavering in its quest to ensure that cricket reaches all corners of the country. It is a symbiosis that binds the two organisations together."
"With CSA and the SABC partnership having provided mutually beneficial value in the past, CSA believes that it is in the interest of both the parties' stakeholders that such a partnership be maintained into the future."
