The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) announced that its recently implemented 90 per cent local music quota on radio and the introduction of local content on TV has not only been positively accepted by local artists, the South African music industry, the corporation’s audiences and many other interested parties. This move has generated a great interest from other public service broadcasters on the African continent.
The SABC views this positive development as a confirmation that this radical decision to prioritise local music was not motivated by any other reason except to indicate that as Africans we should love our own artistic work more and it was also a perfect way to deconstruct the dominant western-based narratives that implies that Africa is not good enough.
“We are delighted that our positive efforts are recognized beyond the South African boarders and we strongly believe that if we can work together as African public service broadcasters we can play a pivotal role in telling the positive African story to the rest of the world. When we started this campaign, we had clear objectives to change the lives of South African artists and obviously to make an impact in Africa and the rest of the world. We are happier that the campaign that is spearheaded by our COO, has started yielding positive results in its early stages,’ said professor Maguvhe,SABC board chairperson.
Maguvhe further indicated that “The Board is excited the innovations and strategies on local content introduced by Motsoeneng has been so well received by the other broadcasters on the continent.”
The SABC has already met with some key stakeholders including public service broadcasters to discuss the possibility of rolling out this transformational drive to other African countries. Today the SABC was visited by the Swaziland broadcaster who wanted to benchmark from them on how best to implement the increased local content.
Their initiative to prioritise culture and heritage in the implementation of local content was also hailed by the vhaVenda King and the Zulu King in their recent interaction with our COO, Motsoeneng. The Zulu King honoured Motsoeneng for his efforts in the implementation of local content while the Venda King applauded him for the implementation of the 90 per cent music airplay and the prioritisation of culture and heritage.
“It is through the efforts of the COO that the SABC has moved from a government guarantee era to the era of financial stability,” concluded Maguvhe.
The SABC will make announcements as soon as the plans have been finalised where Motsoeneng will address other public African broadcasters’ representatives in Mauritius. Motsoeneng has been requested to come and advise other African broadcasters on the implementation of local content.
“Pursuant to the appeal against Motsoeneng, I thought it is imperative to put certain salient points in the public domain. My observation is based on my years of experience at the SABC, the private sector and the many foreign broadcasters that I have worked for. Motsoeneng has the rare qualities of a leader, a seasoned broadcaster and also an astute business mind. Motsoeneng was seconded by the board to act as COO in November 2011 when the SABC was under severe financial strain and his main priority since then has always been to save the organisation. The SABC was under government guarantee loan and had negative cash reserves under his leadership he raised significant funds and in the process saved numerous employees from losing their jobs. With the introduction of the new channels, numerous new jobs were created,’ said Jimi Matthews, SABC acting group CEO.
As a public service broadcaster, the SABC remains committed to serving South Africa and the African continent diligently as expected.
