In a letter to the chairperson, CEO and management of the SABC, AfriForumhas demanded an explanation as to why the Afrikaans TV news bulletin was not broadcast on Saturday, 5 April at 18:15 as usual.
No explanation has been offered for the failure to do so, and viewers are reportedly upset about the disregard for the Afrikaans audience’s access to news, read a AfriForum media release on Monday.
According to Alana Bailey, AfriForum’s Head of Cultural Affairs, AfriForum already complained in August 2024 to the SABC management about the rescheduling of Afrikaans news bulletins and their replacement with sports or other events.
It was then undertaken that the matter would be investigated, and disruptions would be limited as far as possible.
“Access to vital information in one of the official languages of the country is the most important reason for the SABC’s existence.
“Furthermore, the institution has constantly been struggling with budget shortfalls in recent years, and it is therefore incomprehensible that Afrikaans news, which according to our information is a key source of advertising revenue, is subject to fluctuations and omissions of this nature without explanation,” Bailey said.
“Afrikaans consumers are loyal and financially strong. About a third of the market is Afrikaans. This makes it even more incomprehensible that the SABC is choosing to alienate this market. It is choosing to kill a proverbial goose that is laying golden eggs!
“We are extremely concerned about the role played by the public broadcaster. Not only Afrikaans speakers, but also speakers of other, smaller language groups in the country have long been dissatisfied with news bulletins that are broadcasted at inconvenient times,” Bailey added.
While AfriForum awaits an explanation about Saturday’s event, it promised to monitor the situation to ensure that further disruptions do not occur.
Meanwhile, a Democratic Alliance (DA) media release on Monday regarding the same incident read: ‘The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) appears to think it can suddenly stop airing the Afrikaans news bulletin without giving any notice or justification.
‘The sudden disappearance of the Afrikaans news bulletin this past weekend, without any communication from the SABC on the reasons behind this decision, is troubling.
‘The DA demands that the SABC provide immediate clarification on why this essential service has been halted. It is crucial that we understand whether this is a permanent change, a once-off incident, or something else entirely.
‘We will write to the SABC to request urgent answers regarding this matter, and we call on the SABC to restore the Afrikaans news bulletin as soon as possible, ensuring that all South Africans, regardless of language preference, continue to receive reliable and timely news.
‘For many South Africans, the SABC Nuus on SABC2, which has a devoted audience of over 300 000, has been an essential source of news and information. All of these viewers must pay for their TV licenses, and it is completely unacceptable that the SABC would show such indifference to such a large segment of the population. As the public broadcaster the SABC has a duty to serve all language communities.
‘The DA will hold the SABC accountable and will not tolerate such a lack of transparency in our pubic broadcaster.’
The DA issued the same media release in Afrikaans, as below:
‘Die SABC dink blykbaar hy kan skielik ophou om die Afrikaanse nuusbulletin uit te saai sonder om enige kennisgewing of regverdiging te gee.
‘Die skielike verdwyning van die Afrikaanse nuusbulletin die afgelope naweek, sonder enige kommunikasie van die SABC oor die redes agter hierdie besluit, is kommerwekkend.
‘Die DA eis dat die SABC onmiddellike verduideliking gee oor hoekom dié noodsaaklike diens gestaak is. Dit is van kardinale belang dat ons verstaan of dit ‘n permanente verandering, ‘n eenmalige voorval of iets heeltemal anders is.
‘Ons sal aan die SABC skryf om dringende antwoorde rakende hierdie aangeleentheid aan te vra, en ons doen ‘n beroep op die SABC om die Afrikaanse nuusbulletin so gou moontlik te herstel, om te verseker dat alle Suid-Afrikaners, ongeag taalvoorkeur, steeds betroubare en tydige nuus ontvang.
‘Vir baie Suid-Afrikaners was die SABC Nuus op SABC2, wat ‘n toegewyde gehoor van meer as 300 000 het, ‘n noodsaaklike bron van nuus en inligting. Al hierdie kykers moet vir hul TV-lisensies betaal, en dit is heeltemal onaanvaarbaar dat die SABC sulke onverskilligheid teenoor so ‘n groot segment van die bevolking sal toon. As die openbare uitsaaier het die SABC ‘n plig om alle taalgemeenskappe te dien.
‘Die DA sal die SABC verantwoordbaar hou en sal nie so ‘n gebrek aan deursigtigheid in ons openbare uitsaaier duld nie.’
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