Thinus Ferreira
SuperSport which has the rights and South African Rugby have reached a deal with the South African public broadcaster for the upcoming second Springboks rugby test match between South Africa and Italy on Saturday 12 July in the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Gqeberha to be simulcast on SABC2 at 17:00.
The agreement was announced at a press conference in Johannesburg yesterday afternoon at the Springboks store in the Sandton City Mall, attended by SA Rugby president Mark Alexander, MultiChoice's SuperSport CEO Rendani Ramovha, the SABC CEO Nomsa Chabeli and Gayton McKenzie, the minister of arts, culture and sport.
Many media said they were unaware of the planned press conference, not informed beforehand, or called to attend, getting only press statements afterwards from either the SABC, or SuperSport or SARU.
According to SARU, SuperSport and the SABC the agreement to shown the test match between the Springboks and the Azzurri was reached to make everything look good for the 30th anniversary of the Springbok's 1995 Rugby World Cup win.
Not a word was said at the press conference by SARU, the SABC or SuperSport about why the first Springboks test match against Italy on 5 July in Pretoria will not be made available on the SABC.
In reality, massive structural and financial problems remain pertaining to sports rights, the cost and acquisition of that and why so-called "big sport" like rugby isn't seen regularly on the public broadcaster.
Despite promises, Gayton McKenzie has so far been unable to fix the problem with making big sporting events available to the masses on television, with either the government or the SABC that will have to find the money to pay for sports rights to these sporting events when they become available.
SuperSport that has gobbled up essentially all South African rugby TV rights, as well as SuperSport, are both under increasing political pressure to find a way to make more rugby available on public television like SABC channels and eMedia's e.tv.
It's unclear what the SABC is paying to SuperSport, if anything, to televise the 12 July Springboks test match.
It's also unclear and not yet known whether MultiChoice, SuperSport and the SABC will block the match from being shown on the SABC2 channel carried on eMedia's Openview satellite service.
In a SARU statement, Mark Alexander in a prepared quote, says "As SARU, we are working closely with our broadcasters to ensure that all South Africans can be part of this historic occasion".
Mark Alexander didn't say why only this second test match will be shown on SABC2.
At the event, Nomsa Chabeli said "We extend our deepest appreciation to SARU and SuperSport for enabling this collaborative agreement".
"This partnership is testament to one thing: To the power of shared purpose where commercial imperatives and public interest converge to serve a higher calling and that is nation building."
Rendani Ramovha, in a statement from SuperSport, says "SuperSport is pleased to be able to contribute to the country's celebration of 30 years of Springbok excellence since that unforgettable moment in 1995."
