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/ 16 January 2006
This year, as a variation on the theme in last December’s African issue, we have decided to focus solely on the South African media companies doing business north of our borders. We have done this because it’s far more relevant to our readers.
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/ 16 January 2006
The new CEO of the SABC Dali Mpofu has a plan to take the public broadcaster into Africa on an unprecedented scale. It involves two 24-hour channels in a range of colonial and indigenous languages. It involves content tailor-made for each of the continent’s economic blocs. It involves the aspirations of Nepad and the African Union. It will take massive political and financial clout to achieve. Kevin Bloom reports.
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/ 16 January 2006
The government’s slogan of "Batho Pele" promises a return to our cultural values of putting people before all else. But anyone who uses public health services knows that people are generally put last — often after nurses’ tea breaks and chats. Children cry uncontrollably, the infirm slump in wheelchairs, and the elderly sprawl on the benches.
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/ 16 January 2006
If the point of journalism is to "speak truth to power", the month of October reconfirmed the purpose of South African media. Expressions of surprise at the candour of certain editorial pieces (implying frankness is not something we’re used to?) were rife across the industry, followed closely by guesses as to what the eventual consequences might be.
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/ 16 January 2006
A growing number of South African media companies are following MultiChoice into Africa, and they’re all learning that partnerships with local players are the key to bypassing negative sentiment and establishing a workable model. Kwanele Sosibo reports.
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/ 16 January 2006
"Enoch Godongwana leads me to his computer to show me the title of his column for publication in the <i>Daily Dispatch</i> that Friday. ‘The rules of fairness must prevail,’ he reads with a chuckle. It was the week former deputy president Jacob Zuma had been charged with rape, and Godongwana wanted his say: rape must be condemned but Zuma shouldn’t be castigated until proven guilty," writes Vicki Robinson.
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/ 16 January 2006
”It’s Friday afternoon, November 18 2005 on my farm at Chiredzi. At 3.15pm it’s still sweltering. That is why it is such a good place to grow sugar cane. I am alerted by the dogs barking. Filled with dread, I just know it’s the police/army group, which grandly calls itself the ‘Farm Material and Equipment Procurement Committee”’, writes Greig Henning.
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/ 16 January 2006
Professor Tawana Kupe explains why commercial broadcasting is bringing an economic and cultural revolution to Africa. In this surprising celebration of capitalism and market consolidation, he argues that Nepad and African states should implement mechanisms that encourage cross-border media ventures.
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/ 16 January 2006
Writing in South African newspaper The Star this month, Basildon Peta pointed out — quite unnecessarily — that Zimbabwe opposition Movement for Democratic Change vice-president Gibson Sibanda belongs to the ”minority Ndebele tribe” while disputed party president Morgan Tsvangirai comes from ”the main Shona tribal group”. Therein lies the riddle of Zimbabwean politics.
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/ 16 January 2006
Hundreds of demonstrators brought Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, to a halt on Monday with protests at a call by an international United Nations-mandated group for Parliament to be wound up following the end of its term last month. Barricades were erected across streets in every district of the West African country’s economic capital.