National Film and Video Foundation falters as its leadership instability continues

by Steve Kretzmann, GroundUp

Over the past two-and-a-half years, the National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) has had six chief executive officers. The latest, Onke Dumeko, was appointed in an acting role on Monday.

This comes against a backdrop of allegations against sports, arts and culture minister Gayton McKenzie over the board selection process and the appointment of Onke Dumeko’s predecessors. 

The NFVF falls under the arts and culture department. It funds the development of film productions and is meant to promote the local film industry.

During an appearance by the NFVF before Parliament’s sports, arts and culture portfolio committee on 4 September, Gayton McKenzie left halfway through the 6-hour grilling.

He faced hard questions from ANC MPs Gaolatlhe Kgabo and Matsholo Mmolotsane, and EFF MP Eugene Mthethwa who accused McKenzie of deliberately destabilising the foundation for his own political ends.

The accusation followed questions about what legislation Gayton McKenzie relied upon to appoint Dumeko’s predecessor, Rirhandzu Machaba, and whether the NFVF board, which the National Film and Video Foundation Act clearly states is responsible for the appointment of the CEO, was duly constituted.

Unsatisfied with the department’s response that the Public Service Act allows the minister to second a member of staff as acting CEO at the board’s request, Mthethwa said McKenzie was "galvanising the sector" for his own political ends.

The previous NFVF board was dissolved by Gayton McKenzie in 2024, shortly after his appointment as minister. The nomination deadline for new board members was extended by more than a month, despite 180 nominations having been received. A shortlist of 22 names was never made available for public scrutiny.

It was revealed in parliament that the majority of the resultant 14-member board, including the board chairperson who has since resigned, were chosen from nominations received during the extension.

“You remove the board in order to put the board that serves your purpose,” said Mthethwa. He accused the minister of being “not honest” despite being someone who often quoted the Bible.

In response, Gayton McKenzie said, “You don’t have questions, you just have insults … there’s no act that says I must show the public the shortlist, there’s no act. Now you come here, you talk about my religion, you talk about my political party, you just have insults for me all the time.”

This led Kgabo to later comment that McKenzie was acting “like a toddler”, not a minister.

Leadership vacuum

The NFVF has had a succession of CEOs since Makhosazana Khanyile resigned in March 2023, a year before the end of her five-year term.

She was followed by Thobela Mayinje in an acting role from April 2023. 

At about the time McKenzie was appointed minister, Mayinje faced criticism for spending money on an expensive junket to the Cannes Film Festival, along with then board chairperson Tholoana Ncheke-Mahlaela. This was despite no South African films being represented at the festival.

Amidst what an NFVF statement at the time said were “numerous allegations”, Mayinje was suspended, but remained on full pay until her resignation in November last year.

The NFVF’s Chief Financial Officer, Peter Makaneta, told the portfolio committee that her resignation brought investigations against her to a halt. Among these were R4 500 worth of alcohol bought on the NFVF credit card.

Lebogang Mogoera was seconded into the breach as acting CEO until February this year, when Robben Island CEO Abigail Thulare was redeployed to head the NFVF. Thulare was relieved two months later by the permanent appointment of pastor Vincent Blennies in April 2025. Blennies suddenly quit less than three months later.

Rirhandzu Machaba then stood in as acting CEO, followed by Onke Dumeko, who took on the role on Monday.

When asked by DA MP Leah Potgieter why Blennies, who was the only permanent appointment since March 2023, unexpectedly resigned, McKenzie said he did not know.

“We had a CEO, people resign, it’s personal matters for people, you can’t stop them. He’s left, there’s nothing we could do about it,” said McKenzie.

Potgieter, along with ANC MP Moyagabo Makgato, also asked why board chair Saudah Hamid resigned shortly after Blennie, but no answer was provided.

GroundUp has established that board member Sydney James also resigned on 4 September, the day of the portfolio committee meeting.

The Auditor-General has made repeat negative findings against the NFVF in the past three years. NFVF CFO Makaneta attributed this to the lack of stability in the organisation.

“All the entities you see achieving clean audits, one of the success factors is stability at CEO and board level … If we can stabilise the entity, we guarantee we can easily achieve a clean audit,” said Makaneta.

He underscored this by revealing he and his personal assistant were the only permanent staff members in the finance department. “We have been working with temporary staff members because of the restructuring that is taking place.”

NFVF failures

According to the Auditor-General’s latest 2024/25 report, R1.1-million of the NFVF’s R150-million total budget was flagged as irregular expenditure due to it not being approved by the board. Internal controls were also found to be deficient, which was a repeat finding.

There was a passing mention made in Parliament of the Public Protector's report published on 30 June, which found the NFVF had failed to properly assess applications for funding under the Presidential Economic Stimulus Programme (PESP), of which the NFVF had received R152-million to disburse.

The Public Protector investigated the NFVF adjudication process and lack of an appeals process for rejected PESP funding, following a complaint lodged by Njabulo Media in February 2023. 

It was found that OL Africa Media Foundation was similarly unable to appeal after its PESP funding application was turned down.

The Public Protector agreed with Njabulo Media that their funding application was improperly assessed due to failures in the application adjudication process and the lack of a DSAC appeals process.

 It ordered that future PESP funding be administered according to guidelines to be developed by DSAC to regulate the PESP programme. The guidelines are due at the end of September, but no mention of progress was made during the portfolio committee meeting.

The NFVF has also failed to host the 19th South African Film and Television Awards (SAFTAs), this year, which were due to take place in October.

The NFVF has stated that “after careful review and consultation”, the SAFTAs had been rescheduled to take place in March next year.

“The decision to move the awards is the result of leadership changes within the NFVF and related unforeseen delays,” stated NFVF spokesperson Lerato Mokopanele.

Independent TV critic Thinus Ferreira noted the announcement came after months of silence about the SAFTAs, and the rescheduling meant filmmakers would have to compete amongst a larger group of entries, as they would span a year-and-a-half rather than across the usual 12 months.

Regarding minister McKenzie’s responses to the portfolio committee, ANC MP Kgabo recommended he be referred to the ethics committee, but committee chair Joseph McGluwa did not make a ruling on this.

Following the portfolio committee meeting, questions were sent to DSAC asking for the reasons why board chair Saudah Hamid resigned, and the date of resignation.

The following response was received: “Saudah Hamid (board chairperson) resigned due to personal professional commitments that prevented her from dedicating sufficient time to the role, compounded by persistent governance challenges, operational dysfunction, leadership instability, financial mismanagement, excessive policy proliferation, and resistance to oversight within the organisation.”

 Her date of resignation was 8 August 2025.

Springboks rugby test match on 12 July to simulcast on SABC2 after SuperSport and SA Rugby deal with SABC

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."

Arts minister Gayton McKenzie promises fixes, admits South Africa's government failed artists: ‘They can't even open an Ellerines account’

by Thinus Ferreira

South Africa's arts and culture minister Gayton McKenzie has slammed the country's government for its failure to reform the entertainment industry and the system to prevent artists from suffering and perpetually dying in poverty.

Gayton McKenzie spoke at the funeral of singer Winnie Khumalo (51) and said the government is serious about fixing South Africa's broken entertainment biz system this year.

Winnie Khumalo died 7 January after a short illness and without a medical aid, followed by the death two days later of Victor "Doc Shebeleza" Bogopane after a long illness.

Gayton McKenzie branded The Cultural and Creative Industries Federation of South Africa (CCIFSA) – a representative body funded by the department of sports, arts and culture – as a "criminal organisation" that he said got millions of rands from the government with little to show for it.

"Artists in this country, you have been failed by us – your government," Gayton McKenzie said at the funeral service.

"I'm not pointing fingers at others – I’m part of government. We have failed you. We have failed artists in this country as a government."

"Let me tell you how have we have failed you: How come artists in this country can't even open an Ellerines account? They don't have a three months' bank statements. Artists in this country are not being seen as workers. How can that be? We have failed you."

"I came here for two reasons. I came to apologise because I am part of the people who have failed you. But I'm also going to be part of the people that bring the solution and fix what we have done wrong," he said.

"I send my sincerest apology because artists are being treated like nothing."

"Artists die.They are represented CCIFSA. Why can't CCIFSA pay for the funerals of artists? They're getting millions. Millions and millions and millions. They steal from artists."

Gayton McKenzie said "CCIFSA is a criminal organisation. I have the bank statements of how many millions they've got but the artists are still poor. Why did you get all these millions?"

"I will bring out the bank statements of how much you have been paid over all these years. You got millions and millions and millions. Where's that money? What have you done with that money?" 

At the funeral the veteran musician and producer Chicco Twala also spoke and revealed Winnie Khumalo suffered and had no medical aid.

"What we have are burial aids. Not medical aids. They only put money aside for us when we are dead. Winnie did not deserve to die the way she did. She suffered. Rethabile suffered alone. I saw Winnie two days before she passed on; what I saw was not okay. Winnie needed a medical aid.

"The likes of Winnie and many of our late musicians who were instrumentally generating millions into our sector deserve better. I want our government to do something about that."

Chicco Twala said "There are three companies: Universal Music, Warner Brothers, as well as Sony. They have collected more than R1 billion. Money that belongs to musicians like Winnie, producers like Sizwe Zakwe, the late Hugh Masekela. That money, they shared it among themselves and did not pay a cent to producers".

Earlier this month The South African Guild of Actors (SAGA) slammed the government and the minister for the inaction to protect the rights of workers in South Africa's TV and film industry where the casts and crews of several TV shows have gone unpaid for months.

After many months struggling to just get paid and losing homes and rental accommodation and forced to sell cars and equipment, the workers on Paramount Africa and Bakwena Productions' Pound 4 Pound series shown on the BET Africa (DStv 129) channel on MultiChoice's pay-TV service, finally got paid in December.

The cast and crew of Clive Morris Productions' Queendom series, also shown on Paramount Africa's BET, are however again and still waiting to be paid after production had shut down once more – the latest shut down for the troubled show due to people simply not being paid for their work.

The cast and crew of The Executives, produced by Sawita Productions and shown on the South African public broadcaster's SABC1 are also still waiting to be paid, while the cast and crew of Nikiwe, produced for eMedia's e.tv by Thomas Gumede and Lungelo Radu's Parental Advisory Productions are also waiting for payment for over a year. 

Jack Devnarain, SAGA chairperson, said "Nobody wants to step up and admit they failed to protect the rights of performers, crew and background actors".

"The problem is we have normalised silence. If you step back and look at the damage inflicted on the industry through non-payments, there should be all kinds of alarms, sirens, and media statements by the government, ministers wagging their fingers. There should be interventions by industry organisations, but no, none of that is happening – just silence."

ALSO READ: South African Guild of Actors criticises silence from industry and minister Gayton McKenzie over multiple issues like non-payment of casts and crews, asks for urgent intervention

South African Guild of Actors criticises silence from industry and minister Gayton McKenzie over multiple issues like non-payment of casts and crews, asks for urgent intervention

by Thinus Ferreira

The South African Guild of Actors (SAGA) chairperson Jack Devnarain has slammed the silence from South Africa's film and TV industry, as well as minister of arts and culture Gayton McKenzie, over the failure to protect the rights of crews and casts.

SAGA has also written to two national government departments - the department of arts and culture, as well as the department of employment and labour - asking for urgent intervention over the non-payment of freelance actors and crew working in the industry.

In response, on social media, Gayton McKenzie attacked Jack Devnarain saying he is "creating the impression that I am silent or found wanting".

The cast and crew of SABC1's The Executives, produced by Sawita Productions are waiting to be paid. 

The cast of Paramount Africa's Queendom on MultiChoice's BET Africa (DStv 129) channel and produced by Clive Morris Productions (CMP) are waiting to be paid with production of the show that has again shut down after crew and cast were not paid at the end of December.

The cast and crew of Paramount Africa's Pound 4 Pound, produced by Bakwena Productions and shown on BET Africa finally got paid after having to fight for several months to get the money they were owed.

In a public video that went viral, Jack Devnarain criticised South Africa's film and TV industry over its silence to address the ongoing issue of non-payment of casts and crews, and he noted that producers, the government and industry organisations refuse to speak out publicly which damages the suffering industry.

"Silence from producers, broadcasters, government, and industry organisations is the sound of failure - and nobody wants to step up and admit they failed to protect the rights of performers, crew and background actors," Jack Devnarain said.

"The problem is we have normalised silence. If you step back and look at the damage inflicted on the industry through non-payments, there should be all kinds of alarms, sirens, and media statements by the government, ministers wagging their fingers. There should be interventions by industry organisations, but no, none of that is happening - just silence."

In a nasty retort on X, formerly Twitter, Gayton McKenzie lashes out, saying "Many celebrities use social media to bully government officials, they want us to jump when they speak. I'm different, your time of exclusive access is over, you might be famous but you are not more important than other artists."

In SAGA's letters to the two departments, the organisation explains that actors in South Africa are offered contracts that favour the commercial interests of broadcasters and producers who are exploiting performers' lack of bargaining power.

Since the sector is unregulated, it "renders freelancers - particularly previously disadvantaged persons - vulnerable to unethical and abusive labour practices”.

BREAKING. Acting NFVF CEO Thobela Mayinje on 'administrative leave' for 2 months already pending investigation 'for numerous allegations', NFVF Council disbanded

by Thinus Ferreira

The NFVF took two months to reveal today that Thobela Mayinje, the acting CEO of South Africa's struggling National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) had been placed on "administrative leave" since two months ago, 30 July, "pending an investigation for numerous allegations" and that the NFVF Council has been disbanded.

South Africa's department of sport, arts and culture and the NFVF have dragged their feet in appointing a permanent new CEO, with Thobela Mayinje who have been acting in the position since April 2023 for a year and a half already, since Makhosazana Khanyile left.

The department of sport, arts and culture has placed Lebogang Mogoera, a chief director in the department as the latest acting NFVF CEO in the interim. 

The department has also ordered the NFVF to advertise for the position of a new permanent CEO. The NFVF Council has also been dissolved.

"The NFVF in a statement says "Following the dissolution of the NFVF Council, the department of sport, arts and culture has started with a process to establish an interim accounting authority while a legislative process of constituting a fully constituted Council is underway".

"The interim measure will ensure that processes of the entity are not disrupted and the industry needs are met."

In mid-July, shortly before Thobela Mayinje was placed on administrative leave, South Africa's new sports, arts and culture minister Gayton McKenzie slammed South Africa's National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of, and funded by, his department, saying "there is a big problem at the National Film and Video Foundation".

"It can't be that all the people in the arts are complaining. There must be a problem there. We must address that problem. We are here to fix things. We are not here for self-aggrandisement. We are here to fix stuff and to work together."

In June South African filmmakers reacted with fury over the NFVF's latest red carpet champagne junket to the 77th Cannes Film Festival - a visit that once again excluded media, but included a gaggle of NFVF and other officials and cost millions.

Adding insult to injury: It took the NFVF a month after returning to South Africa to put out a badly done, bland press release about what the NFVF did in Cannes, with no exposure or local coverage in the media about what the NFVF's work and interaction there entailed.

The NFVF - funded by South African taxpayers, spent big to take 40 people from South Africa's film industry together with NFVF staffers and acting NFVF CEO Thobela Mayinje to the French Riviera for so-called "exposure" and networking.

NFVF chairperson Tholoana Ncheke-Mahlaela also went along.

The ongoing NFVF instability will cause renewed embarrassment for the beleaguered agency which is supposed to put on the 18th South African Film and Television Awards in October in Johannesburg.

The 18th SAFTAs craft awards is earmarked for 25 October as a YouTube broadcast with the main awards set for 26 October as a simulcast on SABC3 and MultiChoice's Mzansi Magic (DStv 161) channel.

Trying to lower Gayton McKenzie threats on sports rights, MultiChoice's SuperSport sublicense under a quarter of PSL matches to SABC.

by Thinus Ferreira

Trying to lower pressure from South Africa's sports minister Gayton McKenzie who wants more South African viewers to have access to national sports, MultiChoice and SuperSport have grudgingly sublicensed a quarter of the current season's Premier Soccer League football matches to South Africa's public broadcaster.

MultiChoice will allow the SABC to broadcast 51 out of over 300 PSL matches which include 23 Betway Premiership matches, 12 Nedbank Cup matches, 10 Carling Black Label Cup matches and 6 National First Division games.

League matches will be broadcast on SABC1 on Saturdays. SuperSport will broadcast all 240 Betway Premiership games live on DStv and MultiChoice's streamer Showmax.

In a joint statement MultiChoice and the SABC say SuperSport and the SABC "have reached an agreement on the sub-licensing of Premier Soccer League (PSL) broadcast rights for the new Betway Premiership season".

MultiChoice and the SABC note that the sub-licensing deal "comes on the back of strong relations developing between the two broadcasters".

Besides being able to lower the pressure South Africa's new sports minister has put on the pay-TV operator and the South African public broadcaster, their strengthened relationship also serves both in an ongoing case against eMedia's e.tv when it comes to sports rights.

Rendani Ramovha, SuperSport CEO, says "The latest sub-licence agreement with the SABC is another step towards a strong relationship with the public broadcaster, for the benefit of football lovers across the country and the African continent".

"The PSL has proven itself time and again to be the most coveted football product among South Africans and we look forward to delivering another outstanding season of football action on SuperSport."

Nomsa Chabeli, SABC CEO, says "We are pleased with this acquisition, which is another demonstration of our commitment to delivering exceptional support content to our diverse audiences."

South Africa's new arts and culture minister Gayton McKenzie slams NFVF: 'There's a big problem there. Where is Mzansiwood?'

by Thinus Ferreira

South Africa's new sports, arts and culture minister Gayton McKenzie on Friday slammed South Africa's National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of, and funded by, his department "saying there's a big problem at the National Film and Video Foundation".

"We don't have blockbuster films. There's Hollywood. Nollywood. You have Bollywood. Where's Mzansiwood? Those are the questions we are going to ask. It can't be that all the people in the arts are complaining," Gayton McKenzie said on Friday in an eNCA (DStv 403) interview outside parliament.

"There must be a problem there. We must address that problem. We are here to fix things. We are not here for self-aggrandisement. We are here to fix stuff and to work together."

On Wednesday, Gayton McKenzie posted an image of South African writers at an airport, noting that "The second group of South African writers arrived in Turkey, en route to Venezuela. I removed myself and a few officials from the list to make space for more writers and this is how things will be going forward at the department of sports, arts and culture".

In June South African filmmakers reacted with fury over the NFVF's latest red carpet champagne junket to the 77th Cannes Film Festival - a visit that once again excluded media, but included a gaggle of NFVF and other officials and cost millions.

Adding insult to injury: It took the NFVF a month after returning to South Africa to put out a badly done, bland press release about what the NFVF did in Cannes, with no exposure or local coverage in the media about what the NFVF's work and interaction there entailed.

The NFVF - funded by South African taxpayers, spent big to take 40 people from South Africa's film industry together with NFVF staffers and acting NFVF CEO Thobela Mayinje to the French Riviera for so-called "exposure" and networking.

NFVF chairperson Tholoana Ncheke-Mahlaela also went along.

Sixteen delegates from provincial officers from the Western Cape, Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, under which the KZN Film Commission, the Durban Film Office (DFO) and Wesgro, as well as officials from other organisations like the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) and the Eastern Cape Development Corporation (ECDC) went along. It's not clear what they did.

Following international flights and expensive French hotel accommodation, champagne glasses were filled during the 11-day festival at cocktail events, including a "first-ever intimate networking cocktail event" at the Bistrot de Lérins.

In response to a media query from TVwithThinus the NFVF didn't want to say how much money the NFVF spent on the overseas Cannes junket or where everyone stayed in Cannes.

Lerato Mokopanele, NFVF spokesperson said the NFVF paid for 22 filmmakers and five NFVF staffers and their travel and accommodation costs to go to the Cannes Film Festival.

As to why Tholoana Ncheke-Mahlaela went and attended, the NFVF said she was invited by South Africa's embassy in France to attend the Cannes film festival as part of a delegation from South Africa to promote South Africa as a film destination and that she was also invited by the Indian government to give a speech at the festival's Bharat pavilion.

For more than a year and a half since March 2023, the NFVF has been without a permanent CEO since Makhosazana Khanyile left.

South African government to intervene over Sprinbok rugby broadcast block and sports rights fight between MultiChoice, SuperSport, eMedia's Openview and the SABC.

Thinus Ferreira

An explosive TV keg is on the verge of erupting as untenable pressure is building up over millions of South African TV viewers who continue to be blocked from watching Springboks rugby on free-to-air television, with South Africa's government that said it is now going to intervene.

The ongoing TV sports sublicensing fight between South African broadcasters continue to block South African viewers from seeing Springbok rugby tests on television and specifically on the South African public broadcaster - content that qualifies as sport of national interest and importance.

Two of South Africa's new ministers - Solly Malatsi as minister of communications and Gayton McKenzie as new minister of sports, arts and culture - both now say they want to meet as soon as this week in a sit-down meeting with all of the stakeholders that include MultiChoice and SuperSport, the SABC, eMedia and the South African Rugby Union (SARU).  

Gayton McKenzie says he will summon MultiChoice and SuperSport, eMedia and e.tv, as well as the SABC to meetings. 

"We are very close to a roundtable with all decision-makers. We shall not rest until all can watch the national teams. The nation owns the national teams and the owners must watch their teams playing," he said.

"We are actively dealing with this matter. It is inexcusable and a huge shame on us. We shall very soon revert back after concluding talks."

Gayton McKenzie said he "felt anger, disappointment and sadness that so many South Africans can't watch. We need them to share the Springbok joy. We can't say we are a pro-poor country but don't have the Springboks on SABC. This needs to change. It must change. It's going to change."

The fight over TV sports sublicensing rights revolve around money and the millions paid to broadcast these, as well as the reselling or sublicensing of it and which viewers then get access to it.

MultiChoice's SuperSport is willing to pay hundreds of millions to sports bodies, content distributors and licensors for something like the past two Saturdays' Springbok test matches against Ireland. This money is then used to fund sport organisations and bodies, as well as pay players.

DStv subscribers in turn pay to watch this sports content on pay-TV services like SuperSport-packaged channels on DStv.

SuperSport sold and sublicensed the rights of the Springbok test matches to the SABC but with a contract stipulation that the content is not allowed to be shown or be accessible on the version of the SABC channels carried on eMedia's Openview satellite service.

MultiChoice argues that eMedia and e.tv would otherwise get free access to premium sports content that e.tv isn't and hasn't paid for.

eMedia argues that what is being shown by and on the SABC should be accessible everywhere the SABC's TV channels are carried and that SuperSport is deliberately not willing to sell or sublicence sports rights to eMedia en e.tv but just to the SABC.

Since eMedia dragged MultiChoice to the Competition Commission Tribunal which is still to hand down judgment in this matter - the SABC, which originally agreed to buy and sublicence the rights from SuperSport had to backtrack and break the deal to broadcast the content.

While MultiChoice and eMedia are duking it out over sports sublicensing rights, the SABC and South African Rugby are caught in the middle with viewers sitting without access.

Mark Alexander, South African Rugby Union president, in a statement said SARU supports the SABC's decision to backtrack on its planned agreement with SuperSport to broadcast the Springbok test matches but also says SARU support the SABC's desire for Springbok matches to be broadcast on the public broadcaster.

"This may appear to be a minor and obscure issue to the general public but it is critically important to the Springboks and the future of rugby in South Africa, affecting to just the broadcasters but the sport itself."

He says it's not SARU, SuperSport or the SABC which are fighting with each other.

"It was the intervention of eMedia and its demand that Openview be permitted to broadcast the rugby without any financial contribution by eMedia that put an end to this agreement."

"eMedia's attempts to put an end to exclusivity in sports broadcasting rights would slash the rights fees, with the sport itself suffering the most, severely impacting our programme delivery from the grassroots level to the back-to-back Rugby World Cup-winning Springboks."

"It is absurd that eMedia should be allowed to broadcast sport without contributing to its support and development."

Khalik Sherrif, eMedia CEO, says SARU is wrong.

"It is an absolute shame when the real facts of a dispute in which there is a court decision in favour of the public is distorted by a national body such as SARU. SARU should act in the interests of all South Africans and not only the privileged few," says Khalik Sherrif.

Sheriff says SARU is simply parroting MultiChoice's views.

According to eMedia, it is "the SABC's decision which resulted in the rugby not being aired by it".

"It is clear that MultiChoice and SuperSport and the SABC are solely responsible for the broader public not being able to watch these sporting events, such as the Springbok/Irish test matches and the cricket T20 final. eMedia has been in the public’s corner trying to ensure the widest access to these events."

MultiChoice told TVwithThinus in response to a media query that MultiChoice is "sympathetic to the position of the SABC in guarding against free-riding by a commercial competitor and using its limited funds in a manner that would serve to further the commercial interest of a private commercial entity".

"The allegation that SuperSport gave too little time for eMedia to bid for the rights is completely false."

"Despite having known about the test matches for months, eMedia belatedly approached SuperSport to inquire about the rights and, after being probed, made an offer to sublicense the rights."

"Their bid was inferior to what the SABC offered and was therefore rejected. Even as late as last week, eMedia repeated its patently sub-commercial offer for the rights to the second test in spite of it having been made aware that its offer was not commercially viable."

"It appears to us that eMedia prefers to free-ride on the investments made by SuperSport and the SABC rather than to itself invest at the level which Springbok rugby deserves."

"Sports broadcasting requires a careful balancing act. While fans would understandably like to watch everything for free, the fact is our sports federations depend on the licensing of exclusive broadcasting rights to keep sport alive."

"SuperSport makes a substantial investment in South African rugby and as a country, we have witnessed the fruits of that investment with the World Cup-winning performances of the Springboks."

"SuperSport must protect its investment in exclusive broadcasting rights. But even so, SuperSport is mindful of the desire of audiences to also see the Springboks play on the channels of the public broadcaster."

"We have therefore endeavoured to reach appropriate sub-licensing arrangements with the SABC. It is eMedia alone who has disrupted those arrangements in pursuit of its own commercial interests."

The SABC in response to a media query told TVwithThinus "the SABC will not be pressurised to use public funds to finance private third parties for sports rights".

"The SABC remains committed to broadcasting sports of national interest."

The SABC said it had acquired the rights for the Olympics games directly from the rights holder, International Olympics Committee in 2017 and will show the upcoming 2024 Olympic Games on the SABC TV channels.

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