A scandal is unfolding in the SABC, apparently aimed at reversing significant steps to have the corporation fulfil its mandate as a public broadcaster - and not simply a mouthpiece for the ANC. The public needs to monitor that those in whom we have put trust ensure that the public broadcaster does not betray its responsibilities and return to any variant of capture. A public broadcaster does not operate for private interests or profit nor as a sectarian propagator of the views of any interest group or political party. For many years under apartheid and more recently in the period of State Capture, the SABC saw itself as beholden to the ruling party and in our times, that is the ANC or the dominant faction of the ANC. It tried to tailor its programmes and news coverage in a way that benefitted the ANC and despite its extensive reach as a broadcaster, it lacked credibility.
Whatever the short-term cost Minister Lindiwe Sisulu may bear for her attack on the Constitution and the judiciary, she and her supporters can claim what could be an important victory: it appears that they have succeeded in framing the question that will dominate the ANC’s 2022 elective confe.
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Limpopo Premier Stan Mathabatha’s pronouncement was politically risky because the opinion of the lower structures hasn’t been formally gauged yet, but he wouldn’t have said it if Ramaphosa were not ready to put up his hand for re-election. Limpopo Premier Stan Mathabatha’s pronouncement.