Defiant boss Hlaudi Motsoeneng says SABC will defy Icasa's order to end SABC TV news censorship because Icasa 'not a court'; SABC risks losing it broadcast licence.

The famously matricless and belligerent chief operating officer (COO) of the SABC, Hlaudi Motsoeneng said the SABC will defy the order of South Africa's broadcasting regulator, Icasa to immediately end censorship of SABC TV News visuals of protests because Icasa is "not a court" and said that the SABC will take the case to the Constitutional Court.

The autocratic broadcasting tzar Hlaudi Motsoeneng said nobody can dictate to the SABC what to do and what not to show, not even the South African broadcasting regulator that oversees the SABC's broadcasting licence and monitors its adherence to its licence conditions.

Icasa says its rulings and orders as the broadcasting regulator are binding.

At yet another late-start, mangled, confusing and off-message SABC press conference on Monday afternoon, 4 SABC'ers - the SABC chairperson Mbulaheni Maguvhe, SABC board member Aaron Tshidzumba, Hlaudi Motsoeneng and the SABC's PR tzar Kaizer Kganyago - all uttered 4 different comments regarding the SABC's stance regarding the regulator's order for the SABC to end its ban on broadcasting the destruction of property during public protests introduced in May.

Interestingly both Mbulaheni Maguvhe and Aaron Tshidzumba - the only two SABC board members present at the SABC press conference - have been the most vocal, publicly, the past month, in their support of both Hlaudi Motsoeneng, as well as his decision of SABC TV News censorship of public protests in South Africa.

Interestingly, the minister of communications, Faith Muthambi, on Monday afternoon defied an ANC summons to appear before a meeting of the ruling ANC political party's subcommittee on communications to explain the litany of crises at the SABC, Hlaudi Motsoeneng, and the SABC's news censorship decree.

The bombastic exclamation on Monday afternoon by Hlaudi Motsoeneng that the crisis-riddled SABC will ignore and defy the order from the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) handed down on Monday morning.

Hlaudi Motsoeneng said that he will not ends his censorship decision that will be fought to the Constitutional Court. This follows the stubborn pattern exhibited by the controversial SABC boss.

The dictatorial Hlaudi Motsoeneng ignored the Public Protector's February 2014 report from the Chapter 9 institution that implicated his in maladministration, found that he lied about qualifications and a matric he doesn't have and said "Hlaudi Motsoeneng should never have been appointed at the SABC".

The beleaguered Hlaudi Motsoeneng is also embroiled in several court cases over his appointment as COO at the SABC and other matters.

All court rulings so far has found against him and ordered the SABC to suspend him immediately, all of which he has defied, with ongoing appeals, adamant to fight and take his court cases to the Constitutional Court.

The latest of South Africa's Chapter 9 institutions that Hlaudi Motsoeneng is now trampling on, is the broadcasting regulator, Icasa, that regulates the entire South African TV industry - the authority that could revoke the SABC's TV broadcasting licence should it fail to comply with its order on Monday for the SABC to stop censoring SABC TV news broadcasts.

The South African broadcasting regulator found the SABC guilty of  breaching both the Broadcasting Act and its licensing conditions, as well as the South African Constitution and ordered it to end its SABC censorship decision, backdated retro-actively to 26 May.

"No-one is going to tell us what to do within organisation," said Hlaudi Motsoeneng.

"I don't know why people want to dictate to the SABC. We are clear on what we are doing, and we still believe that we are within the Broadcasting Act," said Hlaudi Motsoeneng.

"The Icasa ruling, we are challenging that ruling. If we need to go to the Constitutional Court, that is where the matter will end," said a defiant Hlaudi Motsoeneng.

"We are not going to change anything. You must forget," said Hlaudi Motsoeneng at Monday afternoon's hastily convened SABC press conference that was interrupted by a Right2Know protester who shouted "Hlaudi must go, away with censorship. Away with Hlaudi. History will judge you."

"People have been talking elections, saying SABC is not going to be fair, because blah, blah, censorship. I don't know what is censorship," said Hlaudi Motsoeneng.


■ Compared with Hlaudi Motsoeneng's utterances on Monday, tho other SABC board members and the spokesperson said wildly different things - different messages about the same subject, illustrating how confused the SABC has become internally when it comes to sending a message to the press.

SABC chairperson Mbulaheni Maguvhe said: "I still believe that we were right [to censor SABC TV news]. And I maintain that we are right. For us it's not a blanket ban, it's just a veil. You can see through it."

"Between now and 5 days we are going to engage our legal team. If their advice is that we are going to review this matter with the relevant authorities, which would include of course the High Court or the Constitutional Court, that is what we are going to do."

"Freedom of information doesn't mean that our children, whose minds are not yet ready to digest these visuals, that we should expose them to these visuals, to grow to be hooligans and irresponsible citizens".

Mbulaheni Maguvhe said the SABC "won't retract the decision" to censor SABC TV News.


SABC board member Aaron Tshidzumba said: "Icasa is Chapter 9. It is not a court of law. It recommends issues."

"We will go to all avenues to answering this Icasa's issue. To prove to them that if they've recommended using rumours, or legal advice which is not informed by broadcasting, we are broadcasters, we're still correct on that".


SABC spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago said: "You are saying we are ignoring Icasa. We are not. We are saying we are taking Icasa on review. Which is a different matter altogether."

SABC press conference once again turns 'Twilight Zone' as Hlaudi protester disrupts; executives and board members go completely off-message (again).

Another week, yet another bizarre and surreal SABC press conference on Monday afternoon that went off the rails.

The SABC press conference, once again hastily convened on Monday, was first postponed to 15:00, then started 40 minutes late, and then literally saw the inside of Auckland Park turned into an episode of the "Twilight Zone".

No other broadcasters do amateurish press conferences they way the SABC push its limelight loving chief operating officer (COO) Hlaudi Motsoeneng to speak, where he and others constantly stray off the intended message and make jaw-dropping comments and announcements.

On Monday afternoon, midway through the press conference, a Right2Know Campaing protester disrupted the press conference who were ordered by SABC PR tzar Kaizer Kganyago to be thrown out by SABC security who slammed the protester as a "disaster".

Ironically the disaster was yet again the SABC and its latest press conference where incompetent sounding SABC board members and executives rambled on, did confusing double-speak, once again overshared ["SABC buildings, the were ceilings were falling apart"], attacked the very media and print editors it invited, and went off-message.

The SABC who invited the media, didn't want to answer yet again about what is happening to the suspended CEO Frans Matlala, or the 8 suspended SABC journalists who opposed SABC censorship decisions. 

SABC news censorship 'is not a blanket ban but a veil'

While SABC chairperson Mbulaheni Maguvhe initially said the SABC's legal team will look at the order from the broadcaster regulator, Icasa, to end its ban on broadcasting the destruction of property during public protests, Hlaudi Motsoeneng minutes later at the same press conference said the SABC won't listen to the regulator and will fight the decision to the Constitutional Court.

Several times members of the press held their hands in front of their mouths as they smirked and outright laughed at the SABC's answers. 

In a bizarre response, the SABC chairperson Mbulaheni Maguvhe asked the media if, after the shooting in Dallas, people saw dead bodies laying around. "I want to ask you media, did you see dead bodies? Were they there? You are quiet. Is that censorship? You are also quiet."

Mbulaheni Maguvhe said the SABC's TV news censorship is "not a blanket ban but a veil".

SABC board member Aaron Tshidzumba who actually lectures in journalism, then incorrectly said "the SABC is a government company" and that "we don't deal with politicians. We deal with out shareholder who is the minister of communications". The minister is a politician.

Then Aaron Tshidzumba slammed print editors. "I question whether these editors of news rooms they're doing justice to correct journalism" and slammed The Sunday Times saying "you are lying to the public when you write a story of seriousness like that, that SABC is borrowing R1.5 billion without verification. That is a lie."

"What crisis is there? Employees are getting their salaries. What crisis is there?" said Aaron Tshidzumba. 

Aftter the SABC experienced two multiple blackout in 2014 that saw all SABC TV channels and radio stations that went off air, and with SABC News that went off air in April 2015, Aaron Tshidzumba asked if the SABC has "ever been seen off air?" 

A non-sensical Aaron Tshidzumba said "we will go to all avenues to answering this Icasa's issue. To prove to them that if they've recommended using rumours or illegal advice which is not informed by broadcasting, we as broadcasters we're still correct."

'Hlaudi must go, away with censorship'

Then a Right2Know campaigner, spokesperson Micah Reddy disrupted the SABC's press conference and showed how bad its security is.

"Hlaudi must go, away with censorship. Away with Hlaudi," he shouted as a protester, holding up a poster reading" We reject censorship, propaganda and purges". As he was removed he shouted: "History will judge you".

Kaizer Kganyago grabbed the mic, saying "that is a very irresponsible thing to do. And it is just something that you don't want to do. Can we get security to get this man out? You are a serious disaster if you come here under the pretext of being a journalist".

"That cough is not an SABC cough"

Then chairperson Mbulaheni Maguvhe, not asked, decided to talk about the cyber hackers who so far has taken off the SABC's websites three times the past month. "These hackers they do it, they want to prove a point that we're not sustainable. Believe you me, they will hack and hack and hack. They will find us still here".

Hlaudi Motsoeneng said "financially, we are stable within the organisation" and said the SABC will deal with SABC staffers who seek to destabilise the public broadcaster. "We call it Operation Clean Up."

"Those who are saying people should revolt against SABC. We will deal with internal people". 

Hlaudi Motsoeneng saw it fit to overshare and tell media on a press conference that he went to SABC offices in Limpopo and KwaZulu-Natal "the ceiling was falling apart". 

He said "you touch RSG [the SABC's Afrikaans radio station], there is hullabaloo. RSG is part of SABC. You can't divorce RSG within SABC. We are aware of those people who don't want change. Change is painful but we are going to make sure there is change within the organisation".

About the suspended 8 SABC journalists who voiced their opposition against the SABC's restrictive news censorship policy, he said "when 8 people cough, that cough is not an SABC cough, and it can't infect SABC."

"Those who want to destabilise this organisation they won't succeed. We are not going to be influenced by people outside the SABC. We are not going to be influenced by anyone. We are going to run SABC professionally the way it should be run,"

Hlaudi: 'I don't have stress'

Hlaudi Motsoeneng in his usual purple power suit said "I don't have stress".

"When I'm under pressure, I perform very well. So all the hullabaloo they don't affect me. I don't focus on what people are saying outside".

"No problems within SABC. I walk tall. I talk tall. Everything that I do there is energy in me because I don't focus on other people. But also it is also misleading to say people are against Hlaudi. The minority maybe. And anyway in life, you won't be loved by everybody," said Hlaudi Motsoeneng.

SABC boss Hlaudi Motsoeneng now targeting public broadcaster's TV channels for local content make-overs: 'We are going to revamp your SABC3 first'.

The controversial SABC boss Hlaudi Motsoeneng is now targeting the public broadcaster's TV channels for the next phase in his local content make-over plan and says he will start "to revamp your SABC3 first" as the SABC's only commercial TV channel.

It follows after the decree last week from the SABC's famously matricless chief operating officer (COO) for all 18 of the SABC's radio stations to immediately start playing 90% local music.

The unexpected move that was widely welcomed by South African artists left the SABC's commercial stations like 5FM and MetroFM scrambling to find and redo playlists and initially being unable to make the 90% quota.

Now Hlaudi Motsoeneng wants to rejig its SABC3 channel where popular American soaps like The Bold and the Beautiful and Days of Our Lives lure more viewers than local programming struggling in the ratings race like local soap Isidingo and telenovela High Rollers.

American shows on SABC3 like Survivor, Botched, The Mentalist and Nikita lure a bigger viewership to the channel than local programming like Top Billing, Afternoon Express and others.

In January for instance the set of The Fast and Furious films together with Bold and Days held 7 out of the top 10 most watched slots on SABC3's list of highest rated programming for the month.

Two weeks ago Hlaudi Motsoeneng told South African producers that although people notice "more and more repeats on the SABC channels" that "there's no reason why we have to broadcast these American soaps and dramas".

On Tuesday, speaking at the latest The New Age Breakfast briefing held in Woodmead, Johannesburg and broadcast on SABC2's Morning Live, Hlaudi Motsoeneng said "we are going to revamp your SABC3 first".

"If you look at SABC, all those movies, they are old. I grew up watching those movies. Even today, some of them.

"But if you look in that industry of content, even if people are producing new content, you wait for MultiChoice, example, to play those movies on their platform. For us we are given [it] after two years."

"And I said, 'We have film makers here in South Africa, why can't we create our own soapies, our own movies? Because we have people in South Africa," said Hlaudi Motsoeneng.

The commercially-driven SABC3, created in 1996 with largely lifestyle-focused programming, caters for and strives to reach a cosmopolitan audience.

According to the SABC, SABC3 targets "South Africa's affluent English-speaking community; the channel's primary target market is viewers aged 18 to 49" and broadcasts a combination of international programming as well as locally produced soap operas, talk shows and drama series.


R2 billion for 4 new SABC channels.
Speaking at the same event, SABC board member member Aaron Tshidzumba told the audience that the SABC’s plans to launch 4 new “language-based” TV channels will cost "each channel, minimum R500 million".

"Which means, Motsoeneng is going to get, raise, R2 billion for us as the SABC for us to get 4 new TV channels."

"We have been promising government as the SABC board a SABC Sport channel; we will launch 8 TV channels [as digital terrestrial television]. And when they showed us the executive the figures, we realised we don't have this money."

"And he [Motsoeneng] said to us 'Look, we will get channel by channel. When we raise money, we will launch a channel. So he is promising us four new channels," said Aaron Tshidzumba.