By Lindsay de Freitas

The SABC’s television offering is comprised of three channels. According to PJ Fourie in his book, Media Studies: Media History, Media and Society, published in 2007, the first two channels, SABC1 and 2 are multi-lingual and are ‘public service channels’, focusing largely on assisting in the development of the nation. The largely locally-produced content focuses on topics such as AIDS, drug abuse and even offers educational programmes for children. The third, SABC 3, functions as the commercial channel or revenue generator of the SABC television service.

As described by Wikipedia, the SABC is “the state-owned broadcaster in South Africa”. It is also South Africa’s oldest and foremost broadcaster, dating back to 1923. As Fourie’s puts it, “The historical development of broadcasting in South Africa is also largely the history of the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC).” Yet since its inception, the SABC’s strong ties to the ruling party of the time have been the cause of much criticism.

The Broadcasting Act of 1999 is slated as the ruling which ultimately transformed the SABC into a state-run enterprise. The Broadcasting Act no.4 of 1999 states among other things that “being empowered to act on behalf of the nation, the Minister has the ultimate responsibility to fulfill certain obligations relating to use, protection and access broadcasting resources”.

There have been many notable instances where the SABC has proven itself guilty of self-censorship. Controversial cartoonist, Zapiro was set to have a television interview aired on one of the SABC channels, but after being filmed, the interview was later cancelled. Zapiro had previously been threatened with court action by President Jacob Zuma for depicting him in a bad light in a few of his cartoons. Speaking in the interview Zapiro said, “Even in the interview it felt like I was being pushed into having to say something positive about the president.”

Former SABC television presenter, Eusebius McKaiser, resigned from the SABC, citing government interference as being the driving force behind his decision. McKaiser had been a presenter on Interface. Speaking on the ruling partners influence on the broadcaster McKaiser said, “There were no regular calls from politicians or Luthuli House to the SABC (so far as I know). But politicians do not need to call the SABC.” McKaiser then continued, "Self-censorship on the part of a sufficient number of employees suffices to keep our politicians happy. The chilling effect of previous interference reverberates culturally. That is far more powerful than politicians needing to call SABC executives every morning."

The censorship of the media is something which South Africa knows very well, because for as long as media in this country has been in existence, the ruling party of that time has sought to use it to its advantage. The SABC has a certain reputation as a government mouthpiece, and needs to re-define its image in order to be considered a as a credible source of both entertainment and information.

Do you feel that the SABC imposes self-censorship too heavily on their three television channels? Tell us below.