Apology to Vision View.

On Wednesday, 16 January 2018 I wrote and published an article relating to Vision View and SuperSport (“the article”). In the article, I, amongst others, described Vision View as controversial and that it concluded a dodgy contract with the SABC. I also mentioned how the SIU has succeeded in setting aside this contract between Vision View and the SABC. In writing the article, I did so without first having had afforded Vision View a right of reply and also without having included Vision View’s version contained in its media statement dated Tuesday, 13 November 2018. The Johannesburg High Court delivered judgment on Friday, 9 November 2018 in the matter between the SIU and the SABC on the one hand Vision View on the other hand. In this judgment, the court found, amongst others that:

a.    it was not contended for by the SIU and the SABC and there was no evidence to suggest that there was any collusion, corruption or irregular conduct which brought about and facilitated the conclusion of the contract between Vision View and SABC;

b.    there was no conduct before, during and after the conclusion of the contract between Vision View and SABC which is questionable on the part of Vision View;

c.    Vision View was not opportunistic and did not seek to snatch a lucrative contract from the SABC;

d.   Vision View has substantially performed to at least 95% in terms of the contract between Vision View and the SABC;

e.    the fact that the services procured by the SABC from Vision View may not have been planned for cannot be placed at the door of Vision View;

f.     although the contract between SABC and Vision View be set aside owing to the fact that the SABC did not follow its own procurement policy, such an order to set aside the contract shall not (a) divest Vision View of its rights flowing from the due performance under that contract and (b) affect the dispute resolution clause 17 in the contract; and

g.    the court ordered SABC and Vision View to continue with the arbitration initiated by Vision View in order to determine (a) the performance by Vision View which is being disputed by the SABC and (b) the payment due by the SABC to Vision View.

I hereby unreservedly apologise to Vision View for the article.

SuperSport appoints Vision View from South Africa to now handle all the outside broadcasts and provide the live feeds of the Zambian Football League in Zambia.

This report has been edited and changed from its first, original version, please see the end of the article:

SuperSport has entered into a partnership with the production company Vision View in South Africa to now do the outside broadcasts of Zambian Football League matches in Zambia.

While MultiChoice will still show Zambian Football League action to DStv subscribers, SuperSport has outsourced all the live league coverage of its outside broadcasts to Vision View.

In South Africa controversy swirls around a contract between the South African public broadcaster and Vision View.

It is one of several contracts entered into between the SABC and various different companies that were set aside by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) in late-2018 due to the SABC not having followed its own procurement policy.

The legitimate tender was for refurbishing of SABC studios that was abruptly cancelled by the SABC and awarded to Vision View. The SIU is continuing a wide-ranging investigation into looting and corruption within the SABC.

Now SuperSport has teamed up with Vision View to handle its Zambian Football League outside broadcasts in Zambia, with the technical component of its outside broadcasts that will be now be done by Vision View.

"The Zambian Football League will still be broadcast on SuperSport and the partnership between SuperSport and the Zambian Football Association remains, however we now just have a new outside broadcast partner that will be responsible for the actual live feed. This will have no impact on league fans' viewing at all," says Gideon Khobane, SuperSport CEO.

For SuperSport's live feeds Vision View will use its 4 outside broadcast vans that can accommodate between 6 and 24 cameras. The vans have previously been used to broadcast live Currie Cup, PSL, Varsity Cup and MultiChoice Diski Challenge matches in South Africa, as well as for international cricket coverage in the SADC region.

MultiChoice says that working with Vision View "reflects MultiChoice's ambition to constantly partner with African enterprises in bringing its world-class content to Africa while engaging and uplifting local communities".

SuperSport is also donating TV production equipment to the MultiChoice Talent Factory (MTF) initiative for use by its emerging filmmakers.


UPDATE: Friday 18 January 2019 21:30 - erratum and correction:

Please note that this report was edited and both the third and fourth sentences changed from the first, original version; together with the word "controversial" that was removed from inside the original headline.

The third sentence originally read: "In South Africa controversy swirls around a dodgy contract ..." The word "dodgy" was deleted.

The fourth sentence was reworded to make it clear that the court found that it was the SABC that didn't follow its own procurement policy.

TVwithThinus apologises for the possible and unintended misinterpretation of meaning that unintended lapses in the original version caused and/or might have caused, as well as for not being specifically clear enough during providing background in the article that the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) set aside a contract due to the SABC that deviated from its own procurement policy.