The election manifesto launch this weekend of the Congress of the People will not be televised live by the SABC, the public broadcaster has told Cope.
SABC political editor Xolani Xundu — who like news chief Snuki Zikalala had a stint as a ministerial spokesperson — tried to spin the decision as a news call in an email on Wednesday to Cope’s Sipho Ngwema, claiming it was based on current parliamentary representation.
Regarding the launches of election manifetos, he wrote, the SABC ”decided that we would only be able to cover live on TV, political parties represented in Parliament. These are the parties that have at least 1% of the votes.”
Extensive live coverage of Cope’s national convention and subsequent Bloemfontein conference on December 16 drew intense criticism from the ANC, which accused the broadcaster of bias in favour of the breakaway party, hinting that the coverage was the fruit of loyalty at the SABC to former president Thabo Mbeki, many of whose allies are senior figures in Cope. Zikalala is reviled among supporters of Jacob Zuma for his perceived backing of Mbeki.
A source close to Zikalala told the Mail & Guardian he had been instructed by chief executive Gab Mampone to reduce coverage of Cope, following pressure from ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe.
SABC television would cross live ”for five minutes” to the launch, to speak to its reporter there, Xundu told Ngwema. The launch will, he said, be carried live on the English-language radio station SAfm and Tswana-language Motsweding. It will run ”delayed live” on Xhosa-language Umhlobo we Nene.
That will not be much consolation to Cope. Motsweding is only the fifth most popular radio station in the country, while SAfm, which targets middle-class listeners, does not figure in the top 10. Umhlobo is the second most popular station in the country.
Xundu’s email offered no explanation for why the Zulu-language station Ukhozi, which has by far the biggest listenership in the country, would not carry the broadcast.
Cope plans to appeal the decision through the SABC board, a route which courts further controversy, as the board, seen as supportive of Mbeki, is under intense fire from the ANC, which wants to dissolve it.