What was the ANC thinking?
Was the symbolism of the ANC’s centenary celebration carefully chosen, or the result of lack of thought?
Continue Reading 1 comment January 15th, 2012
Appreciate the photojournos, but don’t romanticise them
We should be careful not to romanticize war photographers. Anyone who has spent time with a bunch of them will know that it is easy to glorify the mixture of courage and foolishness, the adrenalin addiction, the search for “bang-bang” that drives them. But we must never stop appreciating them, and what they do for us …
Continue Reading Add comment June 5th, 2011
SABC blues - again
You have to be totally dismayed at the apparent collapse – again - of SABC governance. The hopes that this new board represented a fresh broom to sweep the rot out of the Auckland Park headquarters and re-establish a notion of independent, public service broadcasting, are rapidly fading.
Continue Reading Add comment May 23rd, 2010
On the making of bad law
In Beeld this Saturday, I wrote of the implications of the Minister of Communications publishing what was the worst piece of draft legislation I have seen ever. What does it mean if one puts out a scrappy, contradictory, ill-considered Bill that has not even been discussed with your cabinet colleagues?
Continue Reading Add comment January 25th, 2010
Further thoughts on eTV
On the eTV controversy, I think there are two separate questions to ask and answer: was eTV wise to run this interview; and are the police wise to react so sternly?
Continue Reading 3 comments January 18th, 2010
Behind the Naspers results
Probing behind the Nasper’s results shows some interesting things: how bad things are in newspapers, how our TV market is changing quietly, and just how big and powerful Naspers is.
Continue Reading 2 comments November 27th, 2009
A firm response, perhaps too firm
The Department of Communications responded firmly to the auditor-general’s report into the SABC.
The report showed that there appears to have been wild and uninhibited pilfering of the SABC coffers under former Group CEO Dali Mpofu and financial director Robin Nicholson (still, incidentally, the man with the keys to the safe). One’s immediate response was that at last someone was showing strong leadership at the department and taking a firm hand. But the measures they proposed were a direct move to usurp the role of the new SABC board and take control into the Ministry.
Continue Reading Add comment October 31st, 2009
Dreaming of what the SABC could be
In between the old SABC and the new one, I twice had a taste of what a national public broadcaster can do. It is a good time to recall those moments, as they get off to a fresh start.
Continue Reading 1 comment September 24th, 2009
How the new SABC board was chosen
How parliament chose its candidates for the SABC board - and the arm wrestling that went on behind-the-scenes - tells us a lot about power in this society, and how it is exercised.
Continue Reading Add comment September 17th, 2009
Choose a board, choose a future
Running the SABC is like being Springbok rugby coach. Or manager of Chiefs. Or a local police commander, Everyone knows how to do it, and knows better than the person doing it, and has no problem telling them how they should be doing it. It is the breeding ground of that archetypal South African, the armchair expert.
Continue Reading 1 comment September 3rd, 2009
No time for restraint
There was a glaring miscommunication in the announcement that Dali Mpofu had received a reward of R11-m for his role in getting the SABC to the mess it is currently in. We were told that R4-m was a restraint of trade to prevent him working for or setting up a rival company. But surely you would want him to work for one of your competitors?
Continue Reading Add comment August 25th, 2009
Sign the petition
The SOS (Save our SABC) Campaign has launched a petition to push for the board selection process to be more transparent and accountable. They have hit the nail on the head, I would say.
Continue Reading Add comment July 20th, 2009
The SABC interim board
If we have learnt anything in the last two years in relation the SABC, it is that how you appoint the board is as important as who you appoint. The parliamentary committee which recommends candidates, it seems, has not taken on board this very basic lesson.
Continue Reading Add comment July 3rd, 2009
