UPDATE: The SABC's Kaizer Kganyago responds to the Mail & Guardian's article "The timid and ugly state of the SABC" which appeared on July 2.
The SABC has noted the article "The timid and ugly state of the SABC" by Roy Robins in the Mail & Guardian online edition of July 2 2012.
It would seem that Mr Robins lacks a lot of information about the SABC, and what is even more surprising is that Mr Robbins states his assumptions as fact, which is disturbing when he could have approached the SABC for clarity on issues he has raised.
The first incorrect information he disseminates as fact is the issue of SABC 1 replaying a Bold and the Beautiful episode, without apologising to the SABC 1 viewers. This is not true as the channel did apologise for the inconvenience this would have caused.
Regarding the alleged tension between the GCEO, Ms Lulama Mokhobo and the acting COO, Mr Hlaudi Motsoeneng, the corporation has gone on record to say that there is no such tension. Once again had Mr Robins engaged the SABC, he would have been told of this position.
Again, Mr Robins got it wrong, when he said the SABC never officially explained Mr Phil Molefe's special leave, which is not a suspension as he states in the article. A media statement released made it clear that the SABC board expressed the view that the group chief executive officer (GCEO), was within her rights to place an executive on special leave in terms of the SABC's employment policies. The GCEO also, in terms of the editorial policy is the editor-in-chief and as such is finally accountable for the quality of news on our platforms.
Mr Molefe was placed on special leave due to issues that pertain to HR policy matters and it is therefore strictly an operational matter.
On the issue of programming, it would have been nice for Mr Robins to indicate what exactly he means when he says that the SABC does not have original programming.
For example, for the period January 1 2011 to December 31 2011, the SABC commissioned 142 productions and released 42 Requests for Proposals (RFP's) in November 2011, which will see an average of 50 productions commissioned from these RFP's.
In addition, for the period January 1 2010 to December 31 2010, the SABC's total commissioned contract value was R649-million. For the period January 1 2011 to December 21 2011, the SABC's total commissioned contract value was R648-million.
So to say the SABC does not have original programming, when so much is spent on local productions is completely untrue.
Regarding digital terrestrial migration (DTT), this process is led by the department of communications and it is projected that the launch date will be end of October. When we are ready to launch, the SABC will accordingly speak to its viewers on television and its listeners on radio, as to what we will offer through DTT. At this stage it would not make business sense for the SABC to divulge all its trade strategies, as other broadcasters do see the SABC as competition.
We therefor appeal to Mr Robins to engage the SABC, on matters that are not clear to him, instead of making statements devoid of truth.
The SABC as a public service broadcaster expects and appreciates input from all stakeholders in the public domain. However, we appeal that criticism should be constructive, with the aim of building the SABC, and does not attempt to destroy the organisation with untruthful and malicious information, as there are many workers within the SABC, who are dedicated and loyal to serving the needs of the South African public.
Kaiser Kganyago is the SABC's spokesperson