SABC3 executives blindsided as Anele Mdoda abruptly quits Real Talk mid-season after the weekday talk show sinks in the ratings.

SABC executives have been blindsided by Anele Mdoda who decided to abrupt quit SABC3's s Real Talk mid-season, leaving the producers of the weekday talk show that's sinking in the ratings scrambling to find a possible replacement by 11 June for the 5 months remaining on the contract.

Although Real Talk with Anele is supposed to remain on-air until October, Anele Mdoda's final live on-air appearance will be next Friday 8 June with producers Cheeky Media that has no replacement and left the broadcaster's programming executives reeling.

For now SABC3 says the channel continues to support Real Talk that will have to be renamed.

There's no explanation yet for why Anele Mdoda abruptly decided to jump ship after less than two years as SABC3 talk show host. Following a sudden break in April with Azania Mosaka who filled in, Anele Mdoda says Real Talk is no longer part of her "career ambitions".

The show's ratings however tanked following huge damage to both Real Talk and Anele Mdoda's credibility, trust and brands after January's scandal in which it was revealed that payment was made for people to appear on the show, essentially turning it into an infomercial - something that was never disclosed to viewers.

The secret pay-for-play happening on Real Talk breached the SABC's editorial policies and the South African public broadcaster apologised and said it will implement changes to make sure that it doesn't happen again.

The damage to the show's credibility under viewers was however done and also reflected negatively on Anele Mdoda, who said she wasn't aware of payments being made and was just an employee. Viewers immediately started to tune out.

Despite a later timeslot move since February to 18:00 on weekdays when a larger potential viewing audience is available, Real Talk's viewership tanked.

While Real Talk still pulled a low 441 795 viewers for its most watched episode in January to claim the 13th place on SABC3's Top 20 most watched list for that month, the sinking show completely dropped out of the Top 20 list in the months since.

In a statement Anele Mdoda says "I feel, for my own growth, it is time to leave the show and to focus on my career ambitions and prospects. I would like to thank SABC3, the viewers and everyone behind the show for the opportunity they afforded me through the show."

With barely a week to find a replacement and scrambling to find a new face, executive producers Janez Vermeiren and Yusuf Stevens say "we are excited to launch the new face of Real Talk which will officially be announced in the near future."

"Anele has been an integral part of the show and an ideal personality for brand SABC3," says SABC3 channel head Aisha Mohamed, who says the channel for now will continue to support the show.

INTERVIEW. SABC3 channel head Aisha Mohamed on the channel's new schedule, The Amazing Race, Real Talk with Anele, Top Billing and Bollywood - and what's happening with the news and Supernatural.

At the beginning of February SABC3 once again changed its schedule, with SABC3 channel head Aisha Mohamed saying the channel's ongoing prime time evolution "is not the beginning nor is it the end. It's definitely the start of much more. It is our journey".

TVwithThinus sat down with Aisha Mohamed, to hear why the new schedule change happened and what it means, why Top Billing moved to Saturdays and why the news and Real Talk with Anele moved to later timeslots.

Aisha explains how SABC3 is trying to catch up with The Amazing Race, those Supernatural episodes that got cut and new seasons coming, what viewers' response are to the Bollywood content and how SABC3's schedule is responding to viewer feedback.




Why did SABC3 decide to change its schedule again from the start of February?
The changes have been coming for a while and we thought it would be really great to start a new year.

The changes are definitely part of our thinking and our strategy and we've spent a lot of time so that the changes we put forward from February are sustainable but also come with longevity. We decided to launch it in February and it can sustain itself to as soon as May when we get new titles in again, and then in the next 3 months again, we get new titles in again. So it made sense for me to start a new year with a new, fresh feeling.

We also had a lot of feedback and time to get feedback from viewers. So we've spent time reading that feedback, researching that feedback, having a look at what people actually want - you know, what are they saying to us.

What is nice about our audience is that they're very vocal. So they will tell you exactly what are the things that they like and that they don't like. And that actually assisted us in this process, with simple things like Real Talk with Anele that we've moved a little bit later. They're very much a part of those decisions, telling us things like "I'm not home when this is on" and SABC3's schedule is very much about those decisions - so we considered all of those things.

The thing is that you're never going to make everybody happy all the time. It's a competitive schedule for us as a channel, so we can compete aggressively but also make our viewers happy in the same vein.

Can you talk a bit about Top Billing and its 25th anniversary and what a show and a brand like that and its longevity means for South Africa and for the SABC and SABC3 and why did you decide to move it to Saturdays at 18:00?
That Top Billing has been on the air for so many years is a testament to the kind of product that it is and the fact that it has such high value. It is regarded in the viewers' mind as something that's really unique.

Top Billing is a very unique property. It encapsulates a little bit of everything. But also we found that in the viewing experience we're moving into a very different age. So as Top Billing is changing and evolving - and you would have seen if you've watched it for the last couple of months - it's definitely moving to a different direction.

It's moving to the direction that SABC3 is moving, but it's also moving in a digital age, it's savvy about how it's responding to it's viewers from a social media perspective, but it's also about ensuring that we give it a home that it can really shine.

And we felt that Thursdays are definitely our home for reality and for drama and that kind of thing. We found from a viewer perspective those people appreciated watching it over the weekend, so it's about giving Top Billing the opportunity tor really shine on a Saturday, and with a repeat on a Sunday. So we're really hoping to see good things in the new timeslot.

The move of the SABC's English TV news bulletin from 18:00 to 21:00, is that to make a less interrupted flow?
That's exactly what it is. So it was about flow and balance, and also allowing our viewers the opportunity to have news and lifestyle strands where they are.

We've got a 2 minute bulletin at 6 o'clock that's you'll still get that's very much the headlines. And then a very detailed bulletin at 9. So it's 2 minutes at 6 and then a very detailed bulletin at 9 encapsulating what's been going on the day.

Also our viewers are very savvy. They're aspirational. They are aware. They are aware of what's happening around them. Often a lot of the news stories, they've seen what's going on around them, they know what's happening. So it's about bringing it all together for a more detailed conversation at 21:00, which I don't think we could have done at 6 o'clock.

And then the rationale for moving the talk shows Afternoon Express and Real Talk with Anele to early prime time, is it to leverage the more viewers that potentially available later?
So definitely, definitely in terms of Real Talk with Anele that has been the feedback from viewers who told us "I have to catch it on YouTube", "I can't believe I missed it again today", "I can't believe I missed so and so" - it's all of that feedback.


So the later timeslot is a testament to the show's success?
Yes. Absolutely. Also, it's a SABC3 production. So we're invested it in. And we want to give it the best possible opportunity to shine. So 6 o'clock makes a lot of sense.

And I hoping that people are comfortably at home then and can enjoy the viewing experience as opposed to being still at work, which is the feedback we got.

Also Afternoon Express has sustained itself over time. It came on as a new show, we weren't sure how it was going to do, and it really has improved our schedule tremendously.

A lot of viewers have been scared about the possibility of Survivor and The Amazing Race disappearing from SABC3's schedule?
We've kept Mondays as adventure, so our reality and adventure on Mondays sustain itself. So Survivor is definitely still on a Monday.

We chose to put The Amazing Race on a Wednesday because we want to bring our seasons forward. So we're looking at what's happening with how many seasons there are and where we are at, and to bring things forward so that we can give viewers the next season sooner rather than later.

So we've got season 25 of The Amazing Race on Wednesdays and then we've got Survivor coming in shortly. And we've got further seasons actually. So there'll be a one and then a break and then another one. But again, just to make sure that we maintain interest and make it relevant, because we find that the gaps otherwise are a bit too far apart.


Will SABC3 ever show the last four episodes of Supernatural's stopped season?
We are still playing the last 4 episodes out. In the schedule change one of the shows that were affected was Supernatural on a Sunday night.

Unfortunately it is a little bit later, so it's not in the same timeslot that it was at, but we are most definitely showing it a bit later, so we are finishing the season. And it's nice that we also have the next seasons of Supernatural coming.

Do you know which ones?
I think its 11 and 12. So they're coming in and will come in on a drama slot on a Wednesday.


What has been the feedback in terms of the Bollywood content and will there be more of that?
So we're very excited about that. The viewer feedback has been well around Bollywood, also the pairing of Mela and Bollywood together was also very much in favour. The movies feedback was really great. So we got a lot of feedback around the types of movies.

We've also got really good titles, and we've got a good combination of for instance Hindi, Tamil and how we can pair them together and can ensure that both communities can enjoy that equally. So it is a bit of a touchy area sometimes. So we are very careful how we schedule them; so that we ensure we have enough titles, pair them nicely.

Also we try to get latest movies, we've just acquired a lot of new ones with some new titles coming on as well. I think we acquired 20 or 25 new ones.

BREAKING. SABC admits scandalous Bathabile Dlamini pay-for-play interview on Real Talk on SABC3 contravened its editorial code, Anele Mdoda and Cheeky Media 'acted based on SABC's instructions'.

The SABC on Friday admitted that the South African public broadcaster contravened its own editorial policy with a scandalous pay-for-play interview for a politician - the minister of social development Bathabile Dlamini - on Real Talk with Anele on SABC3 and said the lapses were due to its policy not being properly "integrated" at the broadcaster's entertainment division.

The SABC said it would no longer be invoicing the social development department for R149 000.

The SABC didn't specify who is being held accountable and who would be fired, suspended or receive disciplinary warnings.

The SABC did say that talk show host Anele Mdoda and the production company of Real Talk with Anele, Cheeky Media and the executive producers of the show Yusuf Stevens and Janez Vermeiren, "acted based on SABC's instructions".

The SABC in a statement confirmed that the SABC board had met over the growing scandal that has seriously damaged the SABC's credibility, and admitted that "the SABC did not comply with its own editorial policies on sponsorship of programmes, which requires that the sponsor's association with the programme has to be stated clearly, both before and after the programme".

"In this case, this was not done," the SABC said.

The SABC said that "the SABC does not charge for interviews, and this was a breach of organisational practice", and that "there has been a breakdown in internal controls and processes in this specific instance".

In order to ensure that this does not happen again, the SABC says that "as part of the current SABC editorial policy review, we will ensure that any grey areas with respect to sponsorship of programming are clarified and strengthened".

"Secondly the board news and editorial committee has instructed management to immediately look at strengthening upward referrals, and ensure that measures are taken that staff across different genres, including entertainment, are well-versed and compliant with editorial policies and Icasa regulations".

"Thirdly, management will inform GCIS that the SABC will not be invoicing for the R149 000, which was to be paid for the interview".

"The SABC takes full responsibility for these lapses and breaches in editorial control and wishes to communicate that the presenter and production company of Real Talk with Anele acted based on the SABC's instructions".

"The SABC is conducting an ongoing review to ensure that our policies are complied with across the organisation. We are committed to cooperating with regulatory and other bodies to ensure that we remain complaint," says the SABC.

"The SABC remains committed to restoring the integrity of the public broadcaster and all its services, and will continue to act where there are breaches".

The SABC says the "lapses" were "as a result of our editorial policies not being sufficiently integrated in our entertainment division and that the breaches were not intentional. As stated, we will ensure that standards are lifted across divisions".

"The SABC News and current affairs division was in no way involved in this matter. We assure the public that our news and current affairs division adheres to our policy of journalistic integrity and editorial independence".

ALSO READ: After pay-for-play scandal, here what Anele Mdoda needs to do right now to save her show.

SABC board has become involved and has been meeting over Bathabile Dlamini's scandalous pay-for-play Real Talk with Anele interview on SABC3.

The SABC board has now become involved and has met over the scandalous pay-for-play interview that the public broadcaster did with social development minister Bathabile Dlamini on the SABC3 talk show Real Talk with Anele and that took place because the minister paid for it.

Controversy is swirling around the SABC, Bathabile Dlamini, Real Talk with Anele and its production company Cheeky Media, as well as SABC3, after the South African public broadcaster confirmed that the minister's interviews were actually expensive paid-for "talkfomercials" from the social development department's budget.

That the interviews were paid content were never disclosed to viewers. Politicians should also not be paying for interviews - least of all on the SABC.

Both are a transgression of the SABC's own editorial policy as well as the broadcasting regulations set down by the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) that acts as South Africa's broadcasting regulator.

The SABC's acting CEO Nomsa Philiso called Bathabile Dlamini's pay-for-play interview "not normal" and an internal investigation has started as to how it happened that hundreds of thousands of rand were paid to the SABC in return for a TV talk show puff-piece to profile the minister and her family in glowing terms.

The shocking incident that has once again damaged the SABC's credibility as well as that of the Real Talk with Anele show, making it difficult for audiences to know what of what they're watching are actually paid-for commercials disguised as editorial content and what is "real" editorial.

News expert Anton Harber wrote for The Daily Maverick on Friday saying the Bathabile Dlamini paid interview has destroyed "the public broadcaster's journalistic credibility, undermined its integrity, and compromised its professionalism".

"She has certainly destroyed the credibility of the SABC's Real Talk show and its presenter Anele Mdoda. Even if Mdoda was not instructed to go soft on Dlamini, who was after all a client rather than an interviewee, her credibility is blown".

The SABC is now reporting that the SABC board is aware of the issue and has been meeting to discuss it.

The SABC has not yet issued any official press statement about the growing scandal and neither has Real Talk with Anele.  

SABC3 referred all media enquiries about the Real Talk debacle to Kaizer Kganyago. 

Refilwe Moiloa at the production company Cheeky Media where Yusuf Stevens and Janez Vermeiren are the executive producers on Real Talk with Anele, when asked who can talk about the issue, on Thursday said it won't answer questions and also referred media enquiries to the SABC's Kaizer Kganyago.

Yusuf Stevens earlier told News24 that it is not uncommon for people to pay for exposure on Real Talk with Anele.

SABC spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago said the SABC plans to issue an official response on Friday.

Real Talk with Anele, Cheeky Media, the SABC and SABC3 appear to be in breach of the SABC's own editorial policy that states that "where there is programme sponsorship, the sponsor's association with the programme has to be stated clearly, both before and after the programme".

They also appear to have contravened the SABC's editorial policy in terms of "information programming" that states that the SABC should "disclose all the essential facts and not suppress relevant, available facts".

Likewise infomercials and paid-for content in programmes on the SABC "must be labelled in such a way as to make clear that they are not programme material" the SABC's editorial policy states.

Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) political party demands the SABC 'pay back the money' after minister Bathabile Dlamini's scandalous pay-for-play interview on Real Talk with Anele on SABC3.

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) political party is demanding that the SABC "pay back the money as it is complicit in the corruption of the minister" after the scandalous pay-for-play revelation that the minister of social development Bathabile Dlamini paid thousands of rands to the broadcaster so that she could be interviewed on Real Talk with Anele on SABC3.

The shocking revelation on Wednesday that the SABC accepts money for a politician to be interviewed on its airwaves - and not even disclosing it - has inflicted massive further reputational and brand damage on the SABC's credibility as a public broadcaster.

The scandal is also doing damage to the image of talk show host Anele Mdoda, the production company Cheeky Media and the show's executive producers Yusuf Stevens and Janez Vermeiren, as well as SABC3.

So far there been no official statements from the SABC, Cheeky Media, SABC3 or Anele Mdoda, with Cheeky Media that referred media enquiries to the SABC, and the SABC that hasn't responded with answers to media enquiries made on Wednesday.

The report from Daily Maverick exposed a horrific lapse of SABC editorial control and safeguards, standards and ethics.

Real Talk with Anele, Cheeky Media and the SABC, are in breach of the SABC's own editorial policy that clearly states that "where there is programme sponsorship, the sponsor's association with the programme has to be stated clearly, both before and after the programme".

They are also in breach of the SABC's editorial policy in terms of "information programming" that states that the SABC should "disclose all the essential facts and not suppress relevant, available facts".

Likewise infomercials and paid-for content in programmes on the SABC "must be labelled in such a way as to make clear that they are not programme material" the SABC's editorial policy states.

"We call on the SABC board to immediately institute an investigation and all who are guilty must face prosecution," said the EFF in a statement on Thursday.

"In addition, we call on parliament to also take the necessary steps to discipline the minister of social development, Bathabile Dlamini."

"The EFF condemns the department of social development and SABC for exchanging R500 000 of taxpayers’ money for Bathabile Dlamini to talk about herself on the SABC3 programme Real Talk with Anele."

"This is consistent with how ministers in general have been paying Gupta Business Breakfast briefings on SABC for interviews. Here, not only have departments paid The New Age, also SABC has itself done so."

"The EFF rejects the justification that Bathabile Dlamini’s interview was an advert for the work she does in government."

"The 80% of the interview was about herself and the ANC Women's League. In essence, taxpayers’ money was used to profile Bathabile Dlamini and not government social development work."

The EFF statement comes after the Democratic Alliance (DA) political party that in a statement also said Bathabile Dlamini must pay back the R500 000 that "could have paid more than 300 social grants. It is shocking that the department had the audacity to supposedly use public money for an interview".

"It is mandated to serve the poor, needy and vulnerable within our society, it is not mandated to use taxpayers' money to make floundering ministers look good." The DA said it would submit a range of parliamentary questions to "get to the bottom of this likely abuse of taxpayers' money".

So far the SABC board has been silent over the scandal.

There's been no comment or statement from SABC board chairperson Bongumusa Makhathini.

The SABC board also has journalists serving on it in the form of Mathatha Tsedu and John Matisonn with neither who have said anything so far about the latest scandal rocking the South African public broadcaster's credibility.

In July 2017 the SABC interim board member Mathatha Tsedu (now a permanent SABC board member) addressed the SABC's damaged credibility problem in South Africa's parliament and said "every time there is a cycle of bad news around the SABC, the revenues from the SABC TV licences dip."

"How do you get credibility back into the products that the SABC produces? The credibility of the SABC is not just judged by how Muvhango's story line is going or how 7de Laan's story line is going. The major credibility point of the SABC is its news output."

PAID TALK WITH ANELE? As scandal engulfs Real Talk on SABC3 after the SABC takes money to interview a politician, here's what Anele Mdoda needs to do right now to try and save her show.

Plunged right into the middle of a pay-for-play scandal that has engulfed her talk show, Anele Mdoda has very little time as the face of Real Talk with Anele to try and limit not just the damage to her name and personal brand, but also the fall-out that has destroyed the credibility of the SABC3 talk show.

Here is what she needs to do right now:

Twelve years ago in January 2006, The Oprah Winfrey Show and talk show host Oprah Winfrey suddenly found herself in the middle of a crisis.

The book, A Million Little Pieces by author James Frey - supposedly biographical - and that Winfrey endorsed as a pick for her hugely popular Oprah's Book Club, was exposed as a fraud and fiction.

After Oprah Winfrey first told Larry King "it's much ado about nothing" she quickly changed and took to her own show to apologise to her viewers and for letting down her fans, saying to James Frey that "I feel duped. But more importantly, I feel that you betrayed millions of readers".

Oprah showed her anger on TV at not knowing. Oprah admitted a mistake. Oprah apologised. And Oprah said never again with my show, and under my name.

By taking payment amounting to thousands of rand to interview Bathabile Dlamini as a politician and keeping it a secret to viewers without any kind of disclosure that the 2 hour-long episodes in December were actually "talkfomercials", Anele Mdoda, the SABC, SABC3, Real Talk and the Cheeky Media production company producing the show, have now all been exposed for something that's seriously damaging their integrity, image, and overall credibility and trust in their brands.

How will anyone, any viewer, ever again believe anyone, anything - any brand or product or service - that appear on Real Talk with Anele? And what about who and what had appeared on the show in the past and were promoted - did that happen because money exchanged hands?

Anele Mdoda - the face of the show that is called Real Talk with Anele and that carries her name - will have to act fast and do all the right things.

Anele Mdoda will have to go on her own show - as fast as possible and preferably on Thursday's episode on SABC3 - and address the issue head-on in a brutally honest and forthright way. Anything less will permanently damage her, the show and its ongoing presence on the SABC3 schedule.

Anele Mdoda needs to be truthful, she needs to speak from the heart, she needs to come across as sincere, remorseful, needs to explain what she knew or didn't knew, what she was part of or not part of, and how what happened, happened.

Above all she needs to apologise and promise that nothing like this will happen ever again as long as she sits under the SteynCity arch.

So far there's been no official statement from Anele Mdoda or Cheeky Media.

It doesn't feel as if there's any crisis communication happening around the shocking pay-for-play expose and the longer it goes without explanations and apologies, the more harm is being inflicted.

Capacity Relations that repped Real Talk with Anele told TVwithThinus that the SABC took over the PR of the show late last year. Where is the SABC's and SABC3 statement about what happened and the show?

It's absolutely crucial that Real Talk and the SABC is seen being open - and talking - about its own talk show.

People can forgive, but not in the absence of a face that looks sorry. People, after they've been disappointed, can show compassion - but only when they are apologised to for having been deliberately misled and purposefully kept in the dark.

And people can learn to love again, to embrace again, when they've been dumped. That however requires honestly, openness and a contrite mea culpa - an acknowledgement of having done wrong.

If Anele Mdoda, Cheeky Media, Real Talk and SABC3 value their brands - and of course they do - nothing but a brutally honest apology will do.

Just like Oprah, a full disclosure, an explanation, and those two little very big words -"I'm sorry" - is of the utmost importance if Real Talk with Anele and Anele Mdoda has any chance of being taken seriously in the future.

PAY FOR PLAY. Horrific lapse of SABC's editorial policy as broadcaster admits payment for Real Talk with Anele Mdoda on SABC3 to do a 2 hour interview with minister Bathabile Mdoda.

A shocking pay for play scandal has engulfed talk show host Anele Mdoda, her talk show Real Talk with Anele produced by Cheeky Media, the SABC and SABC3; as well as the minister of social development Bathabile Dlamini, following revelations that the government department she is supposed to run, paid thousands of rand for Bathabile Dlamini to be interviewed for two hour long episodes on the SABC.

The report from Daily Maverick exposed a horrific lapse of SABC editorial control and safeguards, standards and ethics, as well as at the production company and talk show host whose face and name is the brand of the show.


ALSO READ: After pay-for-play scandal, here what Anele Mdoda needs to do right now to save her show.


Neither Real Talk with Anele, nor the SABC or SABC3 ever told viewers that the 2 hour softball interview broadcast in December - and repeated - is paid-for content and essentially a talkfomercial instead of an honest and legitimate interview.

The shocking revelations are destroying the credibility and inflicting seriously reputational damage on the image, credibility and brands of Anele Mdoda, the SABC, its SABC3 channel, as well as the Cheeky Media production company.

Viewers no longer know what exactly, and to what degree they can trust Real Talk with Anele or anything - or anyone - that appears on that show.

Lumka Oliphant, publicist for Bathabile Dlamini who also appeared on Real Talk with Anele during the paid-for interviews, told the Daily Maverick that the department is allowed to pay for interviews with the press with public funds supposed to help the old, frail and poor, for Bathabile Dlamini to get media exposure.

Lumka Oliphant initially denied the claim of a R500 000 payment for Bathabile Dlamini to be interviewed on Real Talk with Anele and said "The  reports, which are completely untrue, are a display of gutter journalism to destroy anyone who dares to give a different narrative on minister Bathabile Dlamini."

TVwithThinus made a media enquiry on Wednesday to the SABC regarding the payment of R500 000 by a politician to be interviewed for 2 hours on the South African public broadcaster without the fact being disclosed and told to viewers.

The SABC was also asked for comment about the show in light of what the SABC's editorial policy says and the stipulations of the broadcasting regulator, the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa).

When the SABC responds with answers to the media enquiry, this report will update with it.

Real Talk with Anele and Cheeky Media, and the SABC, are in breach of the SABC's own editorial policy that clearly states that "where there is programme sponsorship, the sponsor's association with the programme has to be stated clearly, both before and after the programme".

They are also in breach of the SABC's editorial policy in terms of "information programming" that states that the SABC should "disclose all the essential facts and not suppress relevant, available facts".

Likewise infomercials and paid-for content in programmes on the SABC "must be labelled in such a way as to make clear that they are not programme material" the SABC's editorial policy states.

Meanwhile the SABC acting CEO Nomsa Philiso admitted that payment took place for a politician to be interviewed on the SABC and told News24 that it was "not normal" for the SABC to sell interviews, saying "there was payment, from what my team tells me".

Yusuf Stevens and Janez Vermeiren are both listed and carry executive producer credits on Real Talk with Anele.

Yusuf Stevens, Real Talk with Anele executive producer, told News24 that it is not uncommon for people to pay for exposure on Real Talk with Anele and that reportedly "mostly brands pay to be on the show".

Yusuf Stevens said that it is handled by the SABC’s sales representatives who also determine the rate. "We still control the interview, do the research and make it interesting to the viewers. Nobody interferes with our scriptwriting or research process."

Yusuf Stevens has so far not said why Cheeky Media and SABC3 didn't disclose to viewers and told them that Anele Mdoda did paid-for interviews and that viewers are watching a paid-for 2 hours.

Also not explained yet is what other episodes and segments are actually promotional, paid-for content, and how payment impacts how brands, people and services are being featured on Real Talk with Anele or not.

Refilwe Moiloa at Cheeky Media in response to a media enquiry asking who is speaking on behalf of the show and who can answer questions pertaining to what happened and how it happened, said Cheeky Media won't be talking and referred all media enquiries to SABC spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago.

Anele Mdoda whose name is carried on Real Talk with Anele and who is the face and brand of the show claimed that she knew nothing of the R500 000 payment and that "it is commissioned by the SABC. I am the presenter. I have nothing to do with them".

"For them to insinuate I took money [to do the interview] is ludicrous. I have no dealings with what happens with the Department of Social Development or the SABC. I get a directive of who they would like on the show and that is who we research."

Anele Mdoda also lashed out at the Daily Maverick, using her social media account on Twitter to slam the report, saying "Understanding how TV works would be the first step here. Keep my name out your damn rubbish".

The Democratic Alliance (DA) political party in a statement said Bathabile Dlamini must pay back the R500 000 that "could have paid more than 300 social grants. It is shocking that the department had the audacity to supposedly use public money for an interview".

"It is mandated to serve the poor, needy and vulnerable within our society, it is not mandated to use taxpayers' money to make floundering ministers look good." The DA said it would submit a range of parliamentary questions to "get to the bottom of this likely abuse of taxpayers' money".

Top Billing doesn't like vagina: Former director Pamela Power tells of how she botched an insert for The Vagina Monologues because the show didn't want the word 'V' mentioned.

A former director on the SABC's Top Billing has revealed that the opulent magazine show doesn't like vagina.

In a funny anecdote, Pamela Power, a TV scriptwriter and script editor, shared a funny anecdote with talk show host Anele Mdoda on SABC3's Real Talk with Anele, saying she was once responsible for doing an insert on the play "The Vagina Monologues" but was ordered not to use the word "vagina" anywhere in the insert for the SABC3 show produced by Tswelopele Productions.

In another insert she wanted to do for Top Billing - South Africa's longest running uninterrupted local programme on South African television and that focuses on the lives of the rich and famous - she wanted to film homeless people for the show because she says "I was so much more Special Assignment".

Special Assignment is SABC3's weekly investigative magazine show strand.

The director who has worked on TV shows ranging from Top Billing and SABC1's Generations and Uzalo to Mzansi Magic's Rockville and who is currently a script editor at SABC2's Muvhango, didn't know how she was supposed to tell a story about "The Vagina Monologues" without using the word "vagina".

"I was the worst director ever and I think they were so happy to wave me goodbye," said Pamela Power who authored the books Ms Conception, Things Unseen and Delilah Now Trending.

"The Vagina Monologues, I was supposed to film that and without ever having the word 'V' mentioned," explained Pamela Power.

"So I didn't film any of the show. And then I got back and they were like: 'But you haven't filmed any of the show, you just did everything in the background".

"I said [its] because you didn't want me to mention the word!" said Pamela Power.

Real Talk with Anele on SABC3 makes its 3rd season debut today with a new set and a new 5pm timeslot as Anele Mdoda switches to live broadcasts five days a week.

Buoyed by boffo buzz the third season of talk show Real Talk with Anele kicks off today in a new timeslot one hour later at 17:00 on SABC3 and broadcast live, with the channel hoping to translate the social media interaction and positive reception into bigger ratings.

Since the start of Anele Mdoda's local talker in mid-2016 produced by Cheeky Media, that replaced Three Talk with Noeleen, the show has managed to draw attention for the type of guests and their comments, and kept viewers engaged.

What so far lagged has been the viewership but after giving Afternoon Express a chance in the 17:00 where it didn't live up to ratings expectations, SABC3 has now switched the two shows.

Real Talk with Anele moves to 17:00 from today for its new third where Anele Mdoda will get a chance to try and capitalise on bigger ratings at a time when more potential viewers are available to tune in.

The third season of Real Talk with Anele is getting a revamp, and from today viewers will notice a new set of the show and with different couches, but still filmed at Steyn City.

The big difference is that besides the new 17:00 timeslot, Real Talk with Anele , that last month won the 2017 Safta award as best talk show, will now be broadcast live for 5 days a week, with Anele Mdoda who will try to bring an even greater immediacy to the show.

The show's bookers are also more determined to find and get guests who viewers haven't tired off and who haven't over-exposed themselves with multiple previous rounds on the talk show and radio interview circuit.

Also new are panel discussions. Besides single guest episodes, Anele Mdoda will host round-table discussions from time to time with a guest panel of experts around certain topics.

"Guests invited will vary from the standard rehashing of well-known names which most talk shows in South Africa encounter," said an insider.

Real Talk with Anele will continue to push the boundaries of South Africa's talk show industry and will interview people behind some of the country's groundbreaking achievements.

"Real Talk presents to viewers real people just like them, with real stories that are both engaging and call for action," says the show.

"Real Talk is a stimulating contrast between famous and fresh faces, news and opinion, fact and fun."


First week's guests
The first week's guests include Lindiwe Hani today, who will talk about her new brutally honest book and how the assassination of her father sent her on a downward spiral into cocaine and alcohol addiction.

On Tuesday Anele Mdoda will interview artists Nandi Madida, and on Wednesday the celeb journalist Lesley Mofokeng will discuss some of his memorable interviews.

On Thursday Anele Mdoda will sit down with artists Kahn Morbee.

On Friday Real Talk will have a panel show that includes Ntateko "Takkies Maswanganye, Toll A$$ Mo and Rainette Leibowitz unpacking cyber dating and how social media has revolutionised the dating scene and relationships.

NO APRIL FOOL'S JOKE. SABC3 in yet another massive schedule shake-up as the channel's line-up is rejigged for the 3rd time in a year from April.

 In a desperate attempt to lift ratings, stem its ongoing viewership slide and slow its cash drains the SABC will announce yet another very dramatic schedule shake-up for its loss-making SABC3 channel that will come into effect from 1 April.

It’s no SABC April Fool's joke: SABC3's latest upcoming schedule shake-up will be the SABC's third for the struggling and loss-making channel in just a year.

SABC3's shake-up follows sister channel SABC2's latest big schedule change that was introduced in February and that angered a large number of viewers – SABC2's sixth big schedule shake-up since mid-2014.

Just as with currency fluctuations in an economy, public and commercial transport commuter timetables, and even a family's nightly dinner time, stability and predictability over time of a broadcaster's TV schedule – or the lack of it – is a strong indicator and signal to the organisational and systemic health or chaos behind the scenes.

Constant and erratic TV schedule changes – the SABC for instance again disrupted all three of its TV channel's schedules in January for Afcon 2017 coverage – confuse viewers who are creatures of habit and who struggle to find their shows and what they want to watch.

With every major TV schedule change of the SABC, some viewers sample competitor channels and programming, find new favourites, form new habits and never return.

SABC3 saw its ratings tank the past nine months following the SABC’s controversial former chief operating officer (COO) Hlaudi Motsoeneng's abrupt decree of 80% local content that was haphazardly introduced on the channel since July 2016. The badly implemented move saw viewers flee, viewership fall and then advertisers leaving.

The SABC introduced big schedule changes for SABC3 in April 2016, followed by yet another dramatic schedule shake-up just three months later in July 2016 – with a new SABC3 logo and-on air look.

That was also when Motsoeneng – now still currently employed by the SABC but ordered to stay at home with no job title – wreaked havoc on the cash-strapped SABC3 by abruptly ordering a decree of 80% local content for the SABC's only commercial TV channel.

Not a single one of the new and mostly badly produced local shows introduced on SABC3 since July 2016, except for a new season of Neill Anthony Private Chef, managed to lure enough viewers to crack SABC3's most watched month-on-month ratings list.

With disastrous AR's (audience ratings) in prime time for the batch of new content, the SABC still had to splash the cash to produce the ratings-failed content that viewers flipped the switch on.

The new SABC3 schedule shake-up is the first under SABC TV boss, Nomsa Philiso. 

She was appointed as the SABC's new head of television in August 2016 to replace the veteran Verona Duwarkah who was abruptly fired for refusing Hlaudi Motsoeneng's allegedly irregular content orders and dubious production contracts and reportedly accused him of of harassment and gross mismanagement.

There's growing buzz that the SABC could perhaps be shuttering the beleaguered SABC3 before the end of the year, while insiders are wondering how the SABC wants to programme and run its promised five additional new TV channels for digital terrestrial television (DTT) if it is struggling to keep the three existing channels on the air and just three schedule line-ups filled that's already stuffed with repeats.

Zandile Nkonyeni, SABC TV publicist, was asked about talk that SABC3 might be shutting down, what the situation is around SABC3's future, and what assurance there is from the SABC to viewers about the channel, but she didn't respond. 

Major programming moves

Now the SABC is again tinkering with SABC3's schedule in another big shake-up.

According to insiders, SABC3 will announce that it is switching a large number of its shows' timeslots with viewers who will once again have to adjust their viewing patterns.

SABC3 will introduce yet another new swathe of local content – some with dubious public broadcasting value – as it also gets ready to dump late night and overnight repeats to cut back on rebroadcast fees, cancels long-running programming like Interface and even moves its news bulletin, The Bold and the Beautiful, Top Billing, Special Assignment and other shows yet again to new times and days.

Zandile Nkonyeni was asked why SABC3 is doing yet another big schedule change again and what prompted the latest shake-up. She failed to comment.

SABC3's latest schedule do-over stretches from the very early morning to late night.

SABC3 will cut its breakfast show Expresso back by half an hour, with the morning show that will move from 06:00 to a new starting time of 6:30 in mid-April. SABC3 is also slowly moving the beloved American soap Days of Our Lives back from its midnight banishment to an earlier timeslot.

Here’s what’s happening on SABC3 from April

Major coming SABC3 changes from April include:

 ■ Expresso is being reduced again, back to two and a half hours, after its timeslot was increased in July 2016 to three hours. From Monday 17 April Expresso is set to start half an hour later at 6:30 to make space for a half hour of kids programming at 6:00 on weekdays.

■ The existing line-up of SABC3's 09:00 hour of repeats is dumped for repeats on weekdays of Real Talk with Anele from Monday 3 April.

■ After taking away the Venda-language soap Muvhango repeat on SABC3 in July 2016, it is suddenly back – at 11:30 on weekdays.

■ The weekday chatter, Afternoon Express that was moved from 16:00 to 17:00 in July 2016 as part of a failed experiment, will move back to 16:00 from Monday 3 April.

■ Real Talk with Anele gets upgraded and moves from 16:00 to 17:00. Basically Afternoon Express and Real Talk with Anele are switching timeslots, with SABC3 now believing that Real Talk – that constantly attracts more buzz – has more potential to lure a bigger actual audience.

■ The SABC is once again moving the public broadcaster's flagship daily TV news bulletin on SABC3 that's been hammered in the ratings and that shed tens of thousands of viewers over the past few months.

The news at 18:30 on SABC3 is once again becoming News @ 6 from April – a simulcast of the news done on DStv's SABC News (DStv 404) channel with anchors Peter Ndoro and Francis Herd.

■ That knock-on effect means that the American soap The Bold and the Beautiful is also once again shifting timeslots – from 18:00 to 18:30 on weekdays on SABC3 from Monday 3 April.

■ The hugely popular The Bold and the Beautiful, perennially the most watched show on SABC3, will now serve as the lead-in for the struggling local soap Isidingo that stays put at 19:00. SABC3 hopes that Bold’s buoyant viewership will filter through to the Endemol Shine Africa produced Isidingo.

■ The local talker Trending South Africa that started in daytime on SABC3, switched to night time and then got a 12:00 weekday repeat, is getting cut down from five days to four episodes per week, losing the Friday episode.

Trending SA will also no longer get any daytime repeat on SABC3 from April but will see its broadcast timeslot move half an hour earlier from 22:00 to 21:30.

■ From Thursday 6 April Top Billing sees yet another timeslot change in the glam magazine show long broadcast history – moving from 20:00 to 20:30.

■ SABC3's investigative magazine show Special Assignment is once again moving in April – this time from Wednesdays at 21:30 to Mondays at 21:00.

■ SABC3's long running Sunday night current affairs interview show Interface at 21:30 is apparently abruptly getting axed. Interface's last episode will be on Sunday 2 April, thereafter replaced by a celebrity-driven type profile show entitled Celebuville in the same timeslot from Sunday 8 April.

  

Flurry of unknown new local content

Instead of phasing individual new shows in over time to help them gain viewer recognition and support, SABC3 is unleasing a next new wave of unknown local content from April as part of the latest schedule shake-up.

This programming will all compete at the same time for viewers' attention, battling each other to stand out in a crowded nightly 19:30 to 21:30 timeslot.

The previously announced channel switch from SABC1 to SABC3 of Clover's latest season of the advertiser-funded production (AFP), Tropika Island of Treasure Seychelles will start on SABC3 on Monday 27 March at 19:30.

While TVwithThinus saw it already and this show's production values look much improved, the same can't be said for new and unknown SABC3 shows like the female presented car maintenance and driving test show Driving in Heels starting Tuesday 4 April at 21:00, Hostess with Lorna Maseko starting Tuesday 4 April at 20:30, and the food competition reality show Dinner Date set to start on Wednesday 5 April at 19:30.

After several pushbacks the delayed Uyanda It’s On that was originally scheduled for 2016 is finally set to start on SABC3 on Wednesday 5 April at 21:00. 

The reality show follows the former SABC1 publicist and socialite Uyanda Mbuli and her various worldwide luxury indulgences captured on video for public broadcasting consuption.

Friday 7 April will finally see the start of the new SABC3 half hour sitcom Soap on a Rope at 19:30 that was also originally supposed to start in August 2016 on the channel. The comedy stars Luthuli Dlamini, Melanie du Bois, Alfred Ntombela and Sonia Sedibe and is set on a fictitious TV show's set.

Publicist Zandile Nkonyeni was asked why SABC3 is introducing another batch of new local programming in a burst and what the programming strategy is behind the move but she failed to respond.

Late night changes

Days of Our Lives on SABC3 is moving from midnight to an earlier timeslot of 22:30 from 3 April.

The late night Isidingo and The Bold and the Beautiful repeats are both dumped in favour of the German TV news service Deutsche Welle that will now start at 23:30 and run until 02:00 in the morning.

From 02:00 the SABC’s feed of the SABC News channel on DStv will be simulcast overnight with the repeat of American TV series that used to be at 03:30 that's all getting axed in the latest shake-up.