Right2Know Campaign calls for urgent intervention to prevent an SABC blackout, says a black-on-air scenario will be a violation of South African citizens' rights.

The Right2Know Campaign is calling for urgent intervention to prevent a blackout at the beleaguered South African public broadcaster, saying that a possible impending black-on-air scenario when the SABC finally seizes up and is unable to broadcast any further will be a violation of South African citizens' rights.

On Sunday, Bongumusa Makhathini, SABC chairperson, warned that the SABC is finally on the verge of collapse with a blackout that could happen any moment.

"I’m not sure how we are going to pay for salaries come end of June," Bongumusa Makhathini said in a report in The Sunday Times.

The SABC that is perilously close to no longer broadcasting hasn't paid for municipal services like electricity at the end of May, choosing to rather pay SABC staff salaries. The SABC now owes the City of Johannesburg more than R13.5 million.

The SABC that is drowning in debt owes the parastatal signal distributor Sentech R317 million and MultiChoice's sports content division SuperSport over R208 million. Beyond that the SABC also owes millions to other content providers like independent South African production companies.

Nothing has so far come of the SABC's plea for a massive R6.8 billion in another government bailout.

On Monday, Yolande van Biljon, the SABC's CFO, warned in an interview with SABC News (DStv 404) that the beleaguered South African public broadcaster's "Day Zero can happen tomorrow" and refused to confirm that SABC staffers will be paid at the end of June.

Yolande van Biljon said that the SABC owes R1.8 billion to hundreds of companies.

Media Monitoring Africa (MMA) has called the government's inaction to help the SABC "despicable" and said that it looks like "a direct attempt to crash the SABC".

R2K in a statement is calling for urgent intervention to prevent an SABC blackout, saying R2K is "deeply concerned by the imminent possibility of an SABC blackout as a result of low cash flow and indebtedness".

"This is especially so, given that the SABC finds itself in this unacceptable financial position after decades of underfunding and recent years of mismanagement and corruption as a result of maladministration and state capture under the combined leadership of dismissed SABC COO,  Hlaudi Motsoeneng, the former SABC board and Faith Muthambi, the former minister of communications".

"The current SABC is charged with a mandate to draw up and implement a sound turnaround strategy to resolve this long-standing problem. This cannot be done with a commitment from the Treasury to commit increased public funding."

"We call for a turnaround strategy that addresses the systemic and long-standing problems including bloated top management and duplication of roles."

"If the screens go dark at the SABC it will be a violation of the ordinary citizens' fundamental right to communicate since this will lead to the inevitable deprivation of the people's right to access information."

"R2K is encouraged by the commitment shown by Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams, minister of communications, to find an urgent solution to the immediate problem, including sourcing a bailout from Treasury."

"However, we urge all parties to find a lasting solution out of the financial quagmire that does not include yet another call by an state-owned enterprise for bailouts from an already depleted public fiscus."

"We call on the ministry, the current SABC board and the other roleplayers to take the public into their confidence in constructing a turn-around strategy and a rescue package that ensures that all interests are taken into account. Civil society too stands ready to assist our SABC," says R2K.

Right2Know slams SABC over its alleged 'blackout' on coverage of horrific xenophobia attacks in KwaZulu-Natal; says 'people have a right to be informed'.

The Right2Know public pressure group (R2K) has slammed the South African public broadcaster over its alleged "blackout" of coverage of shocking xenophobia attacks in the country's KwaZulu-Natal province.

"We strongly condemn the recent destructive and violent attacks on foreign nationals in KwaZulu-Natal," says R2K in a statement.

"The situation has reached a stage where we call on government and leaders to refrain from making utterances that can fuel anger and hate which as we see are resulting in widespread violence."

"We call on political leaders to refrain from a narrative that seeks to propose foreign nationals as the problem in this country which we view as an unfortunate attempt to divert attention from the real frustrations and genuine challenges faced by communities," says R2K.

"We cannot allow a situation where foreign nationals are used as a proxy for political battle".

R2K says "Currently, there are violent riots, stone throwing, trucks looted and burnt, cars set alight – a situation far from under control with no confirmed arrests. The time is now for the government to publicly show their concern for the events as unfolded in KZN."

"There is a large scale destruction and looting of foreign-owned shops and locally owned assets.  These xenophobic attacks are clearly not only an attack on foreigners but on South Africans too."

"The SABC blackout on this news is creating a false sense of security," says R2K.

"The reality in KwaZulu-Natal is being published via social media platforms and local radio stations. People have the right to be informed of occurrences that impact their lives."

"The public is walking into an ambush by not being informed of these spates of violence. As a national broadcaster, the SABC is mandated to broadcast our realities."

Crime catches Carte Blanche as the TV crew of M-Net's investigative magazine show, with guest presenter Masa Kekana in her first insert, gets held up and robbed at gunpoint.

Crime caught up with Carte Blanche as the crew of M-Net's (DStv 101) weekly investigative and current affairs show got held up and robbed at gunpoint - ironically while filming an insert at a "dead" corner where there are no cameras installed for a story about the proliferation of Vumatel's Vumacam surveillance cameras in Johannesburg.

A new surveillance camera system, Vumacam from Vumatel, is being rolled out in the Johannesburg central business district (CBD) and surrounding suburbs as a R500 million high-tech solution to South Africa's rising crime rates, but some people are objecting over privacy concerns.

The radio presenter Masa Kekana joined Carte Blanche to do her first insert as a guest presenter produced by Sophia Phirippides, but then endured a baptism of fire when Masa Kekana and the crew suddenly became a crime statistic after they were held up and robbed at gunpoint with no visual footage to show for it.

Masa Kekana interviewed spokesperson Murray Hunter of the civil rights organisation Right2Know (R2K) on a suburb streetcorner in Johannesburg with cameraman Thabo Maleswene, with the organisation that has serious misgiving about how the Vumacam surveillance system and cameras are being rolled out.

A Vumacam street pole was already erected on the street corner, but no cameras have been installed yet.

"Minutes later," said Masa Kekana, "our whole crew was robbed at gunpoint. All our equipment was stolen but thankfully no-one was harmed". The robbers - two men - were loitering nearby and scouting out the area and the Carte Blanche team until they decided to make their armed attack on the TV crew.

After the robbery and recovering from their harrowing ordeal, Carte Blanche returned to the same street corner to finish the R2k interview for the insert, but with security guards in a bakkie of the ADT security company parked nearby.

Sunday's episode of Carte Blanche with the Vumacam story is now available on DStv Now's Catch Up service.

Right2Know calls for urgent, full and transparent investigation into possible state capture of South Africa's TV and broadcasting sector.

The Right2Know organisation (R2K) and public pressure group in an open letter is calling for an urgent, full and transparent investigation into how possible state capture of South Africa's TV and broadcasting sector, and how this alleged state capture has impacted broadcasting and public broadcasting in the country.

Right2Know, in its open letter, is urging Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, chair of the judicial commission of inquiry into state capture, to investigate what R2K refers to as "evidence and allegations of state capture and associated corruption in South Africa's broadcasting sector".

Lazola Kati and Dale McKinley of R2K say that R2K aligns itself with a previous submission done by the SOS Coalition and Media Monitoring Africa (MMA) non-profit organisations and public pressure groups acting as media and broadcasting watchdog organisations in South Africa.

In September 2018 both SOS and MMA submitted a joint statement to the commission asking for an urgent investigation into the extent of state capture in South Africa's broadcasting sector.

R2K refers to "serious allegations in the public domain" as part of the reason for a full and transparent investigation that is needed into South Africa's broadcasting sector.

This in part relates to Naspers' MultiChoice pay-TV operator (that will be listing on the JSE at the end of this month), the notorious Gupta family's now-shuttered ANN7, the SABC as South Africa's public broadcaster, eMedia Investments' e.tv, Faith Muthambi as South Africa's former minister of communications and the department of communications.

Big unanswered questions remain around South Africa's seriously delayed and allegedly "hijacked" switch from analogue to digital terrestrial television (DTT), a process known as digital migration that has been fraught with delays, corruption, infighting and incessant changes.

Evidence "strongly suggests that various actors colluded to shape South Africa's broadcasting policy and sector to their advantage," says R2K.

This severely affected "ordinary South Africans' access to affordable and quality public media and telecommunications".