SABC News journalists in the Free State receive death threats for allegedly costing the ANC political party votes and municipalities in the province.

by Thinus Ferreira

SABC News journalists in the Free State are receiving death threats and are accused of being responsible for the ANC political party losing votes and control of municipalities in the province, the SABC says.

A case of assault by threats have been opened with the South African police and the South African public broadcaster is also increasing security.

The SABC's journalists who are part of the current affairs team at Lesedi FM in Bloemfontein - senior producer Dimakatso Motsoeneng and presenters Palesa Chubisi and Lahliwe Matsoso - are being threatened that they will be killed.

They are being accused of causing the ANC political party to lose control of the Metsimaholo and Maluti-A-Phofung municipalities in the recent municipal elections that took place in November.

Naka Moloi, Lesedi FM current affairs executive producer, told SABC News that "We are very concerned about the safety and security of our colleagues following the threats".

The fact of the matter is we as journalists. We were doing our job during the election coverage. We invited different political parties from different municipalities in the country. We did our homework, we did research. Our only sin was to probe issues and to ask tough questions."

Dimakatso Motsoeneng told SABC News that "It's not nice because we are mothers, we have families, we have people that are looking after us. If people come to you and make such statements, it simply means you don't know where to go. I hope police will do whatever they can do to bring the perpetrators to book."

TV NEWS ROUND-UP. Today's interesting TV stories to read - 10 November 2020.

Here's the latest news about TV that I read and that you should read too:

■ His 3rd divorce: Fox News (StarSat 261) staffers believe the American channel will dump Donald Trump and focus on bashing Joe Biden.

"A black hole where news dies and conspiracy theories and opinions reign supreme."

■ Trump's presidency might be ending, but Trump the TV series will continue.

"Trump will remain on our screens because he cannot live without seeing himself on television. As much as he is a product of television, he is also its victim. If he doesn't see himself on TV, he doesn't exist."

■ Trump's reality TV show presidency gets cancelled.

After 4 years Americans were ready to change the channel and what began as a grotesque political version of The Bachelor seems destined to end closer in tone to Fear Factor. Like Oprah he delighted in giving surprise gifts to his viewers; family's emotional dysfunction could provide fodder for entire seasons of Dr. Phil and The Jerry Springer Show.

-Ugly: Anderson Cooper on CNN International's (DStv 401) calls Donald Trump "an obese turtle, flailing on his back in the sun".

- Tension, then some tears as American TV news narrated the announcement that Joe Biden has been elected as that country's next president.

- Behind-the-scenes struggle at Fox News (StarSat 261) with the Murdoch family.

- Pro-Trump outlets cry betrayal after Fox News (StarSat 261) calls American election for Joe Biden.

- CNN was first, followed by NBC, MSNBC, then CBS, and ABC; then Associated Press (AP) and Fox News.

- Fox News (StarSat 261) abruptly cuts off Kayleigh McEnany after baseless allegations.

- MSNBC (StarSat 263) contributor Jon Meacham has secretly been writing Joe Biden speeches without telling the TV channel.

- Will Trump TV dethrone Fox News (StarSat 261) as the new voice of right-wing America?

■ It's time to break up with Nate Silver and FiveThirtyEight''s way-off American election polling.

- American pollsters and fakes like FiveThirtyEight and The Upshot are hawking a false sense of certainty.

- "Issue 3, pollsters disaster": What does it say that American polls were once again so far off in American election voter sentiment before voting?

- What went wrong with the 2020 American election polls and what's next for political polling?

- What went wrong with America's polls this year?

- America's polling crisis catastrophe.

■ America's CBS TV network orders all its reality TV shows to have at least 50% of contestants people of colour.

■ After Alex Trebek, host of American quiz game show Jeopardy! dies:

"Jeopardy!" never grew musty, irrelevant or confined; it never arbitrarily decided that ancient history, revered literature and settled science had a cutoff point. It treated the never-ending story of human civilization as an unfolding and evolving body of knowledge."

■ The fired, then court-ordered back SABC anchor Palesa Chubisi dares SABC CEO Madoda Mxakwe to try and remove her from the SABC airwaves.

■ Production on second season of Netflix's The Witcher shuts yet down again over multiple positive Covid-19 tests.

- 4 crew members of The Witcher tested positive on Saturday in the United Kingdom.

■ South Africa's SABC that has a PR division splashes R2.3 MILLION to pay public relations company, PR Worx, to do PR work and clean up the image of the struggling South African public broadcaster - the contract allegedly signed without following due process.

■ Bad form: Despite raging Covid-19 pandemic, political unrest and economic troubles in Nigeria, MultiChoice Nigeria is going ahead with a DStv Premium Golf Day in Lagos.

■ Half the price of Netflix: How Telkom's streamer TelkomONE and its SABC content compares.

■ SABC execs give trade unions until Friday to come with new suggestions on how to minimise retrenchment numbers at the bloated and overstaffed South African public broadcaster.

■ How the SABC tried not to cover (but failed) the Democratic Alliance (DA) political party's elective congress.

South African public broadcaster had to be forced to do so by a Johannesburg High Court order.

■ Princess Diana interview: "Dark cloud over BBC journalism," says former BBC chairman.

■ Since its tortoise-slow launch a year ago, Apple TV+ finally seems to hit its stride.

■ Bloomberg launches a streaming news channel for younger adults.

■ A fifth of American homes now has video streaming services but no traditional pay-TV service.

■ ViacomCBS is shutting down all of its legacy streaming services to focus on Paramount+ .

■ A flurry of complaints as British viewers are disgusted by ESPN's (DStv 218 / StarSat 248) new sympathetically-slanted Oscar Pistorius documentary series that MultiChoice and China's StarTimes plan to broadcast from 19 November in South Africa and across Africa.

SABC finance boss slams rumours staffers won't get paid; admits 'very little trust and no faith certainly' inside broadcaster but implores staffers to give management a chance.

The SABC's finance boss Yolande van Biljon slammed rumours that staffers won't be paid by November but admitted about possible looming job cuts at the embattled South African public broadcaster that there's very little trust and no faith inside SABC corridors.

In an interview on Thursday on SABC News (DStv 404) Yolande van Biljon, the SABC's chief financial officer (CFO) that said the SABC's costs that are "bloated" said that "as a result of the history certainly there's very little trust and no faith certainly. But I do want to emplore our employees and speak to the public of South Africa - just give us a chance".

It's uncertain times. We're all uncertain. As I sit here I don't know where it's going to end as well," she said.

SABC News anchor Palesa Chubisi said rumours circulating inside the SABC that the 3 478 staffers won't get paid by the end of November since the cash-strapped broadcaster will then be out of money without serious intervention "has created a panic in the corridors of the SABC with the news going around that the SABC will not be able to pay its salaries at the end of November".

"My experience with the SABC for the past 12 years that I've been here is that there's never smoke without fire," Palesa Chubisi said.

It comes after the SABC chairperson Bongumusa Makhathini earlier this week when asked if the SABC will be able to pay staff salaries, said "if we don't get financial help, come November we are going to struggle".

Yolande van Biljon slammed the false rumours, saying "maybe these people spreading rumours know something I don't. To execute the payroll is the very first priority when it comes to payment priorities".

"So even if the funds are significantly constrained, if we need to cut that's definitely not the place where we take funds from."

She said "no, the rumours are certainly not true".

The bloated SABC's ballooning wage bill amounts to R3.1 billion, one of its biggest expenses, while the SABC as a broadcaster only spends R1.7 billion on content. The SABC is losing between R80 million and R90 million per month.

About the SABC's dwindling audiences and lack of enticing content, Yolande van Biljon said it's a "catch 22-situation".

"Because of the financial constraints we're unable to procure the kind of content that the audience requires because the audiences then migrate to where it is whether other platforms, digital or just don't watch the SABC anymore. You don't attract advertising revenue as well."

"So it's really a vicious circle and we need to start investing in our content."

About the less than a third of South African TV households who still bother to pay SABC TV Licences she said "if you don't have content that attracts people, then it doesn't motive them to pay".

South African artists lash out at the SABC and boss Hlaudi Motsoeneng on live television; saying they're not benefitting from 90% local needletime, 'doors are closed to us'.

South African artists have lashed out at the SABC over controversial boss Hlaudi Motsoeneng's order of 90% localmusic airplay on SABC radio stations and Saturday's upcoming Thank You SABC Music Concert at the Orlando Stadium, saying they're not benefitting, are being excluded and that despite multiple promises "the doors are closed to us".

The SABC got a rude wake-up call on Thursday morning during the live broadcast of the latest The New Age Breakfast briefing during Morning Live from Woodmead on SABC2 when musicians started to take Hlaudi Motsoeneng and the SABC to task for allegedly not making good on promises to give airplay to everybody's music.

Although the topic was about the benefits of Hlaudi Motsoeneng's local needletime diktat introduced in May, the famously matricless chief operating officer (COO) who regularly appear as a panelist at the TNA Business Briefings was absent.

Furious artists told the SABC they're angry and not benefitting from the SABC's 90% local airplay decree, nor from the upcoming and hastily arranged Thank You SABC Music Concert that wants to fill the 40 000 seater Orlando Stadium on Saturday for a 12-hour concert from 10:00 to 22:00 with 100 artists.


'The doors are closed to us - trust me'
After Tebogo Sethatho from the Music Association of South Africa told artists that Hlaudi Motsoeneng has ensured that the "doors are so open you wouldn't believe" over the 90% local music quota, an artists named Patello objected and said "I've made extensive research. The doors are closed - trust me. I phoned Hlaudi twice and he got surprised. The doors are closed."

Presenter Palesa Chubisi promptly cut him off.

Then artist Romeo Ramuada, from the South African Young Music Forum said "as young people, we've been promised dreams for a long time. When you're talking about music festivals, the line-up only has artists who appear on TV 100 times a day and so on".

"But you're coming here and telling us you've got festivals and it's Heritage month and so on. We are saying as the youth we want to see development. We don't have to be promised dreams."

"The doors are closed. Us as young people, our music don't play on radios. So we mustn't come here and pretend as if we are happy. When we talk about the context of Thank You SABC Music Concert. Where are young people there? But now you tell us we must be happy."

Again Palesa Chubisi interrupted and shut him down.

Vusithemba Ndima, acting director-general of the department of arts and culture, said the department support festivals like the SABC's Thank You SABC Music Concert, but doesn't control the line-up.

"As we provide support to all the organisers of these particular festivals, we stress the point that opportunities should be given to the youth".

Poet and organiser of the Thank You SABC Music Concert, Mzwakhe Mbuli said "the line-up that we are going to introduce. It's known names and names that are not known."

"This has never happened before. So there is no template of what is going to happen on Saturday."


'Howling is not going to solve anything'
Bessie Tugwana, new SABC head of corporate affairs said accusations of "closed doors" are unfair "because last month we had an indaba with the musicians at the SABC."

"We said, come to us as a one voice, united voice, which was agreed. So we are waiting for that voice at SABC. So it's unfair that today we are accused of not opening our door. But besides that, anyone who knocks, who comes to the 27th floor, the office of the COO. He stops anything and listens to you. It's a fact," said Bessie Tugwana. "But can we as SABC, hear this one voice".

As the broadcast continued to become more and more awkward, angry musicians then started shouting and Palesa Chubisi struggled to maintain control. "Can I call for calm?" asked Tebogo Sethatho from the stage.

"Really, this is something to be a celebration mode. Not fighting. And there must also be an element of respect shown," said Palesa Chubisi.

"Who is celebrating?" asked another artist to loud applause. "We need inclusivity in this thing. The process must be transparency. We filled the busses to protect the 90%. But not the performances, that line-up has no-one who has been at the protection of the SABC. And SABC we have one voice."

Tebogo Sethatho said local musicians "shouldn't put sour grapes into this celebration" of the Thank You SABC Music Concert. "I am appealing for calm and howling is not going to solve anything. And as leaders sitting here we understand the concerns."