BREAKING. Afriforum launches petition to keep Afrikaans TV news and Afrikaans programming on SABC2 after shocking move.

Afriforum has launched a petition to gather public support and names for a campaign to keep the SABC's only Afrikaans TV news bulletin and other Afrikaans language programming on SABC2 after the public broadcaster unilaterally moved it to SABC3 which has the smallest footprint of all the TV channels making it inaccessible for millions of South African TV households.

The SABC lied to viewers broadcasting on-air promos telling them the Afrikaans TV news - the SABC's sole TV news bulletin in this language would return to SABC2 on 14 July at 19:00. Instead it moved permanently to SABC3 at 19:30 and out of reach of millions of South Africans who don't get the channel.

Earlier this week the SABC lied and said the dramatic programming and schedule changes on SABC2 and SABC3 doesn't have anything to do with Afrikaans.

However an internal memorandum sent on 30 June by Leo Manne, the SABC's general manager for TV channels, contains extensive market research about Afrikaans media consumers, Afrikaans viewers and the viewing patterns and viewership ratings of Afrikaans viewers.

The internal memorandum shows that the shift of the Afrikaans programming from SABC2 to SABC3 is indeed motivated and related to language, Afrikaans viewers, and the ratings performance of the SABC's Afrikaans programming.

It's also clear from the internal SABC memorandum that the content schedule shift was planned since last year when the SABC held a content summit.

Afriforum has started a petition to which people can add their name by SMS it to 45343 at the cost of R1 per SMS. The petition can also be filled in for free online.

According to Alana Bailey, the deputy CEO of AfriForum, the organisation is being inundated with complaints from angry viewers who live in areas where SABC3 cannot be received.  This includes areas in the Northern Cape, Western and Eastern Cape, as well as the Eastern Free State.

"The SABC's comments that Afrikaans is not being targeted and that thorough research had been undertaken before the changes were made, have no credibility," says Alana Bailey.

"A responsible public broadcaster without an ideological agenda against language and media freedom will actually ensure that programmes are broadcasted on the channel with the largest footprint in the areas where a specific language group is in the majority".

"It would ensure compliance with the public broadcaster's mandate and would make business sense too, as the Afrikaans market is about 31% of the total South African market.  With a much smaller exposure to this market, advertisers are sure to seek other advertising platforms".

New times at which programmes are being shown on the SABC elicit many complaints as well, says Alana Bailey. "These changes all serve to create the impression that every effort is being made to harass Afrikaans viewers".

BREAKING. Widespread shock, disbelief, condemnation over SABC's ridiculous appointment of matricless Hlaudi Motsoeneng as COO.

Widespread shock, disbelief and condemnation is the reaction to the shocking news that the beleaguered SABC has permanently appointed the famously matricless and highly controversial Hlaudi Motsoeneng to the position of chief operating officer (COO) without the position ever being advertised.

The shocking appointment of the matricless Hlaudi Motsoeneng - embroiled in multiple maladministration charges in a scathing report from South Africa's Public Protector released earlier this year which stated that "Hlaudi Motsoeneng should never have been appointed at the SABC" - seems to signal the death knell for the SABC as any kind of credible or reputable public broadcaster.

The public broadcasting pressure group, SOS Coalition, is "alarmed" by Hlaudi Motsoeneng appointment, saying the vast group - representing civil society as well as the larger majority of South Africa's TV industry - is "shocked" by his permanent appointment as COO.

"Where was the fair, transparent and public appointment process we were promised by the ministry?" says the SOS Coalition.

"The post was not advertised and, as such, no thorough recruitment process was followed". The SOS Coalition says the matricless Hlaudi Motsoeneng's permanent COO appointment will "further undermine the stability and credibility of the SABC".

Public Protector Thuli Madonsela told SABC radio news that she doesn't understand what happened and why Hlaudi Motsoeneng has suddenly been appointed permanently, while she is still waiting for a response to the report issued about him earlier this year.

"I'm still waiting for a response from the SABC and from the minister. Until then, I'm not in a position to understand what has just happened".

The SABC's biggest trade union, the Broadcasting, Electronic Media and Allied Workers Union (Bemawu) says in a statement it is "shocked" by the unprocedural appointment of Hlaudi Motsoeneng as chief operating officer at the SABC.

Bemawu says the position was advertised more than two years ago and only internally - in January 2012.

Bemawu says it demands "that the appointment be reversed and due process be followed, failing which we will legally challenge the recruitment process".

The Democratic Alliance (DA) political party in a statement calls Hlaudi Motsoeneng's appointment as SABC COO "a dark day for democracy".

"Hlaudi Motsoeneng has been given a renewed mandate to continue his reign of terror at the public broadcaster," says Gavin Davis, the DA shadow minister of communications.

"We can expect more surveillance and purging of SABC staff, more clampdowns on editorial independence and more 'happy news' that reflects positively on the governing party".

"Hlaudi Motsoeneng should have been suspended and disciplined following the Public Protector's report, not promoted. Hlaudi Motsoeneng has earned a reputation as a Goebbels-like figure at the centre of President Jacob Zuma's propaganda machine".

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) political party in a statement says it is "distraught by Hlaudi Motsoeneng's appointment.

"Hlaudi Motsoeneng does not deserve to be COO, because he is a liar and a conman," says EFF member of parliament Mbuyiseni Ndlozi.

The civil rights group Afriforum says in a statement the shocking appointment of Hlaudi Motsoeneng as SABC COO is "a further example of disrespect for the constitution and constitutional institutions that exist to protect the public against abuse of power and mismanagement".