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South Africa: Broadcast Politics
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Business Day (Johannesburg)
6 May 2008
Posted to the web 6 May 2008
Johannesburg
ON THE face of it, weekend reports that SABC management is actively seeking a replacement for the state broadcaster's influential head of news, Snuki Zikalala, are to be welcomed.
Zikalala has a long history of alleged political bias and managerial incompetence, and bearing in mind the SABC's dominance as a broadcast news source in SA -- especially in rural areas -- and the fact that it is funded largely by taxpayers and through compulsory licence fees, he should have been fired long ago.
The Sisulu commission, which was established after a public outcry to probe the blacklisting of certain political commentators who were deemed overly critical of the government, was particularly critical of Zikalala's role in the censorship attempt as well as his abrasive management style, and recommended that disciplinary steps be taken against him. Yet the SABC executive opted for a slap on the wrist, and by all accounts little has changed at the broadcaster, which continues to haemorrhage senior news staff.
It is clear the SABC will never fulfil its proper role as an even-handed public broadcaster operating outside the influence of either the state or the government as long as Zikalala remains head of news. And he is by no means the only bad apple-- Business Day reported last week that accusations of mismanagement and political bias continue to dog the SABC's Cape Town bureau, even after the Sisulu commission highlighted specific management problems.
According to a report in the most recent edition of the Sunday Times, in addition to Zikalala, SABC CE Dali Mpofu is determined to dismiss or demote a number of his senior acolytes, who are considered part of a clique that is biased towards President Thabo Mbeki's government.
That would be well and good if Mpofu was a new broom sweeping clean, but the fact is it is he who failed to implement the Sisulu recommendations and tolerated Zikalala for so long. There is a strong suspicion that Mpofu is only acting now because he has fallen foul of new SABC board chairwoman Kanyisiwe Mkonza.
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Mkonza recently compiled a memorandum accusing Mpofu of leading the SABC to the brink of an operational, financial and corporate governance crisis, and she is clearly seeking his resignation or dismissal. And given Mpofu's mishandling of the Sisulu recommendations, his bungling of negotiations with the Premier Soccer League for broadcast rights and his past tendency to act as a cheerleader for the government, Mkonza's stance is justified.
However, her true motivation is also questionable in the context of the deep divisions in the ruling party. In fact, there is reason to suspect that none of the protagonists is much concerned about whether the SABC is delivering on its mandate. The battle for supremacy between the African National Congress's Mbeki and Zuma factions has taken precedence and the broadcaster, like so many other supposedly independent state-owned institutions, appears to have become an extension of the battlefield.
Mkonza and her board are in turn under fire from the now pro-Zuma parliamentary committee responsible for broadcasting, and internecine politics is almost certainly a factor there too. The rest of SA can only hope there is anything left of the SABC worth salvaging when the smoke clears.
Notwithstanding the above and in my view correct comments I am willing to put my head on a block that after the dust clears Snuki will be in a higher position than he is now!
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| Copyright © 2008 Business Day. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections -- or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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