ANC backdown on SABC board doesn't change anything

Simply because the majority party in Parliament will still be able to fire the entire SABC board on a whim. And clearly that whim would involve the SABC not following ruling party orders.

Frustration

I suppose one can understand why it is so critical for the present parliamentary majority, the ANC, to want to control at least one part of the media. Since Polokwane and the resultant split in top level ANC ranks, the ANC has taken a pounding from South Africa's mass media. One can also understand why its frustration with the media has increased because the media has shown instances of major lack of judgement in running some clearly unture stories - such as Transnet selling off a large chunk of Table bay, kneejerk 2010 issues and a story on the Land Bank for which the Sunday Times had to run an apology.

Not that this is the fault of the media, quite frankly. Misquoting, getting things wrong and cavalier speculation mostly occurs when Government or big business refuses to engage with the media. As Nelson Mandela taught us - it is so much easier to avoid misunderstanding and conflict, not to mention discovering the truth, when one engages with enemies instead of keeping them at arm's length and in the dark.

Lacking credibility

Firing SABC board members and replacing them with party puppets is not going to help things at all. Because the SABC is only one voice, and already political influence and subsequent factional infighting has seen the credibility of SABC news content sink to below the level of American banks right now. Which is about as far as one can sink these days.

The more political influence that is foisted upon the SABC, the more credibility is given to its competitors. In exactly the same way that during the latter stages of the apartheid era, few people believed what SABC had to say but took as gospel anything that came out of the Radio 702 newsroom. It's getting that way again; only nowadays, there is e.tv adding its weight as well.

Human nature

The more the SABC board is loaded with political appointees, the less credible it will be. Rank and file SABC employees will take the lead, as has happened the past few years, and go out of their way to bow to the wishes of their political masters - even if those masters tell them not to. Brown-nosing is human nature.

The SABC is a national treasure and is critical in terms of reaching even the most remote areas in this country. But, it can only do this if it is financially viable. And for this it needs sponsorships and advertising revenue because it is far too large an undertaking to be able to survive in its present form on licence fees and Government subsidies.

And the less credible the SABC is perceived to be, the more its competitors will flourish and whittle away at SABC's listeners and viewers. And more and more advertisers will go to competing broadcasters.

But the real threat to SABC sustainability is the advent of proper broadband, which will allow for online TV and radio on a massive global basis.

Visionaries

To meet all of these challenges the SABC desperately needs media specialists on its board. Visionaries who understand the complexity of future broadcast challenges. People who understand what advertisers want, what sponsors want. And most importantly, what the consumer wants.

Even though they might not want to believe it, politicians would be doing themselves a favour and creating a far more plausible and powerful platform for themselves by ensuring that the SABC board was packed with politically neutral broadcast, media and marketing skills.

The future of the SABC is not about political control; it is about business sense and sheer survival.