Peabody honour for SA series
22-MAY-12
The South African TV drama series Intersexions, which is produced by Curious Pictures and Ants Multimedia in partnership with Johns Hopkins Health and Education South Africa (JHHESA) and SABC Education, was on 21 May honoured as a recipient of a 2011 Peabody Award, the world’s oldest and most respected award for electronic media.
SA/Ireland co-prod treaty signed at Cannes
21-MAY-12
South Africa’s Minister of Arts and Culture Paul Mashatile and his Irish counterpart Minister Jimmy Deenihan T.D. signed a co-production treaty between the two countries on 21 May at the Cannes International Film Festival.
Durban FilmMart Project Selection announced
21-MAY-12
Twelve fiction projects and 12 documentary projects have been selected for this year's edition of the Durban FilmMart.
Community broadcasters want STB improvement
21-MAY-12
Last week the deadline for public comments to the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS) for the digital terrestrial television (DTT) set-top box (STB) specification ended with many submissions focusing on the typical subjects such as conditional access or a return path facility.
Slight concessions to Secrecy Bill
11-MAY-12
Business Day reports that on 10 May South Africa’s ruling ANC party compromised slightly on the issue of including a public interest defence clause in the highly contentious Protection of State Information Bill (aka Secrecy Bill). Opposition parties, civil rights organisations, unions and press bodies have been lobbying for months to include a public interest defence clause in the Bill to protect journalists and whistle-blowers who expose state wrong doing.
Amendments to dti rebate announced
11-MAY-12
South Africa’s Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr Rob Davies (MP), has approved amendments to the Foreign Film and Television Production Incentive aimed at extending its support to include the country’s growing post-production industry.
Comms Minister’s Budget Vote Speech
09-MAY-12
Building South Africa’s ICT infrastructure for the country’s advancement in the knowledge and digital economy was the focus of Minister of Communications Dina Pule’s Budget Vote Speech presented to parliament on 8 May.
Former Comms Minister dies
07-MAY-12
Business Day reports that Roy Padayachie, former South African Minister of Communications and current Public Service and Administration Minister, died in Ethiopia on 4 May, reportedly of natural causes.
SABC promises R800m worth of local commissions
04-MAY-12
On 2 May South African public broadcaster SABC presented its three-year (2012-15) Corporate Plan to the parliamentary portfolio committee on communications, announcing it would invest over R1bn in local and international content commissioning and acquisition in the 2013 fiscal, of which over R800m will be spent in local content commissions.
Third time lucky?
03-MAY-12
At last week’s Information & Communications Technology (ICT) Colloquium hosted by the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) in Johannesburg, Dina Pule became the third Minister of Communications since 2010 to announce a policy review to overhaul all the legislation in the ICT sector. Pule’s predecessors – Roy Padayachie and the controversial Siphiwe Nyanda – both promised change but failed to implement any during their relatively short tenures.
R2K and World Press Freedom Day
03-MAY-12
The Right2Know (R2K) Campaign has issued the following statement on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day, Thursday, 3 May. R2K aims to ensure everyone living in South Africa is free to access and to share information.
Public hearings for ICASA’s Issues Paper
02-MAY-12
The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA), in accordance with Section 4(6) of the Electronic Communications Act (ECA) No. 36 of 2005, will convene oral hearings on the Issues Paper: A Review of the Broadcasting Regulatory Framework towards a digitally converged environment, from 9 to 11 May at its offices in Johannesburg.
SA wins nine AMAA trophies
23-APR-12
South African productions won nine awards in total at the 2012 Africa Movie Academy Awards (AMAA), which took place on 22 April in Lagos, Nigeria. Charlie Vundla’s How To Steal 2 Million won the Best Film and Best Director awards.
SA films selected for Hot Docs
19-APR-12
Two South African documentaries, Sands of the Skei Queen by Ryley Grunenwald and Buddha of Africa by Nicole Schafer, will participate at the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, which runs from 26 April to 6 May in Toronto.
SOS statement on SABC situation
18-APR-12
The SOS: Support Public Broadcasting Coalition has noted its grave concern regarding the latest developments at the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC). An SOS statement reads: The Head of News, Mr. Phil Molefe, has been placed on special leave for the second time this year. SOS notes the heated media speculation around this issue.
Edging close to DTT
18-APR-12
On 12 April South Africa’s Minister of Communications Dina Pule announced that Sentech, the organisation responsible for rolling out the digital terrestrial television (DTT) network on the DVBT-2 standard around the country, has now rolled out the digital network to 61% of the population.
SABC board on Molefe’s special leave
18-APR-12
The board of the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) met on 16 April to discuss the matter of group executive of News Phil Molefe and his placement on special leave.
National ICT Policy Colloquium
16-APR-12
South Africa’s Department of Communications (DOC) will host a National ICT Policy Colloquium on 19 and 20 April at Gallagher Estate, Midrand. The aim of the colloquium is to start a process of reviewing all the government ICT policies that have been in existence since 1994.
Anyone for Cannes?
13-APR-12
South Africa's National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) invites filmmakers who will be participating at and are attending the 65th Cannes International Film Festival to apply for funding for markets and festivals attendance.
ANC Youth League statement on Molefe situation
13-APR-12
On 11 April the ANC Youth League released a statement in response to SABC group executive of News and Current Affairs Phil Molefe having been placed on special leave.
