Ferial Haffajee
“All in all, a bleak year lies ahead for [the SABC] unless it vigorously evaluates its operations.” — Raymond Louw, Mail & Guardian December 24 1996.
He was spot on: 1997 was the SABC’s annus horribilis. But with the help of that 20th-century engineer of capitalism — the management consultant — the broadcaster celebrated Christmas on a somewhat less bleak note. It “vigorously re-evaluated its operations”, cutting 1 400 jobs and turning a loss of R60-million into a profit of R72-million for the six months ending September.
But something else in addition to jobs had to give to achieve the turnaround. For many the public in the public broadcaster was lost in the race for financial viability. “It has been made very clear to the SABC [by government] that we have to be self-sufficient and this has had an impact on programming,” SABC’s deputy chief executive Govin Reddy told us earlier this year.
What sort of impact? Less money for foreign correspondents; a halt in plans to upgrade nine African-language stations; fewer regional offices and less regional news; less current-affairs programming screened at non-peak times because it doesn’t attract the audiences advertisers want. (For example, the excellent weekly news wrap News-hour screens at 10.00 pm. A telling documentary of our times, Joburg Stories, was screened at 10.15pm last week.) The list goes on; the grim reaper of what Reddy called “the bottom-line mentality”.
It may have been a better year for the SABC, but it’s been a bleak year for public broadcasting. To understand why you have to look back.
The SABC — which started its transformation before any other parastatal or the public service — discovered early there was no pot of gold at the end of its rainbow. The new order was ushered into power in 1993 on the wave of a broadcasting mandate that looked wonderful. It proclaimed that the SABC would broadcast in 11 languages and that world-class programming would be transmitted to every dorp and kraal in the country.
But hokaai! not so fast! The SABC learned what government is just beginning to discover: many dream policies have to be scaled down. The price of broadcasting policy, much of it written by the consultants of dollar-based economies, was too high for the SABC’s pockets and even the presence of the illustrious and politically connected Zwelakhe Sisulu at its helm wasn’t going to make government cough up to finance the dream.
The mandate, costed at R191-million, was judged too expensive by Minister of Posts, Telecommunications and Broadcasting Jay Naidoo. Instead, government gave the SABC R177-million to tide it over from October 1997 to March next year. It wanted tight budgets with no fatty projects and bloated staff complements.
The SABC responded tersely: it wanted R1,8-billion over three years, divided into =0BR215-million this year, R441-million next year and R572-million in 1999 — election year. If government didn’t budge, responded Sisulu and co, then it would drop everything — including regional broadcasts, coverage of the truth commission and parliamentary broadcasts — but essential public programming.
The tussle between government and the SABC continues (foreign funders, for example, had to step in to save radio coverage of the truth commission from the cost-cutting scalpel) and the fallout means that profit-driven broadcasting will rule the roost. Current-affairs programmes have been cut and the Independent Producers Organisation charged earlier this year that “often M-Net has more local programming than the SABC”.
The SABC’s new head of television, the affable Molefe Mokgatle, represents the new face of the broadcaster and the wresting of power from the politically correct appointments made when change first came to Auckland Park. Earlier this year, he stated firmly: “Finance is going to drive this organisation for the next two to three years. There will no programme on air that’s not profitable.” In addition to Mokgatle, other appointments reflect the trend toward the “bottom-line mentality”.
Trevor Omerod was poached from Times Media Limited to lead sales and marketing; in the new year Neil Harvey will make the trek from Anglo American. He will take up the newly created post of chief operating officer.
The new realism these executive appointments represent comes in the nick of time for the next wind of change set to blow through Auckland Park. Naidoo, like his ministerial counterparts at finance and trade and industry, is a convert to the markets.
The Green Paper he released for discussion last month is going to require careful thought and planning at the SABC. The writing’s on the wall for the broadcaster to lose one of its three television channels. Naidoo’s policy paper has suggested a cut of one or even two channels. Then the SABC must begin thinking not only of the new kid on the block but of other siblings too; Naidoo also hinted at a second free-to-air television licence.
On February 3 next year, the Independent Broadcasting Authority will have its most eagerly watched hearings yet when it begins the sifting process to determine who will operate the first licence. For seven television consortiums, that day will herald the starter’s gun for a race that will be dirty with the best competition on the track. And bets are that it will be watched most eagerly over at Auckland Park.