Ferial Haffajee
Veteran journalist Allister Sparks will leave the SABC at the end of December. He announced his departure to staff this week – a move which will leave SABC’s new 24-hour news channel without a leader just two weeks after its launch.
Television CEO Molefe Mokgatle on Monday sent a letter to Sparks informing him that his contract will not be renewed at the end of December. Top-level talks between Sparks and senior management at SABC to extend his contract fell apart as he did not want to report to editor-in- chief Phil Molefe but wanted the channel to be a separate product with editorial independence.
Until a few months ago, Molefe reported to Sparks, who was brought in 18 months ago as a change agent with the title editor-in-chief. SABC representative Enoch Sithole said that Sparks had been employed on only a one-year contract with a specific mandate to groom a layer of news room leaders. In an interview earlier this year, Sparks gave no indication that his tenure at the new channel would be such a short one.
Sparks joined SABC television in a putsch last year in which then editor-in-chief Joe Thloloe was ousted. It was orchestrated by former chief executive Zwelakhe Sisulu, unhappy at how little news bulletins had changed.
With experience and a certain bullishness, Sparks was able to cut through television’s old guard and bring changes to television. He introduced the Thursday slot, Newshour, live interviews in bulletins and better African coverage. Viewers have approved the changes. News now attracts far higher audiences.
Sources suggest Molefe and Sparks fell out when the latter poached staff to join SABC-Africa. There wasn’t enough space in television news for the two larger-than- life personalities. Molefe wanted some editorial control over the 24-hour news channel. The SABC is expected to announce Sparks’s successor before he leaves.