SAME – The Letter to the SABC

(SAME, the newly formed lobby group recently sent this letter to the SABC. The organisation is first seeking consultation with the SABC board on this matter and pending the outcome…well, we’ll just have to wait and see… – Ed)

The
Chairperson
The
Board: South African Broadcasting Corporation
SABC
Auckland
Park

Dear
Chairperson,

CONCERN
OVER THE CONTINUED MARGINALISATION OF COLOURED SOUTH AFRICANS ON SABC
INSTITUTIONS, FACILITIES AND PROGRAMMES

From
the outset, let us state that we are well aware of the challenges
faced by a national broadcaster such as the SABC, especially
operating in a society as multicultural and heterogeneous as our
South African society.

The
concerns raised in this letter do not ignore the great strides which
the SABC has made in delivering to the South African public a service
which breathes new life into our constitutional objectives of equal
representation, media equality and the use of media as a tool for
social empowerment and change. It is the intentions of this letter to
raise the concerns of the Coloured community as a collective as well
as to seek an audience with the SABC Board and Management, and thus
to begin a dialogue in order to find an amicable resolution to the
issues raised herein.

With
the above in mind, we are compelled to bring to your attention this
serious concern: many Coloured South Africans have begun to
experience a marginalisation in, that even after 13 years of
democracy and alleged social equality, the Coloured community appears
not to be afforded the same, proportional media access and
representation on SABC institutions and facilities by the SABC, as is
the case with most other groups.

On
the matter of equal representation in terms of facilities and
programmes, evidence clearly shows that there is currently no
SABC-funded radio station which targets and caters for Coloured South
Africans – a group which comprises 8.9% of the national population.
In addition, there is neither any television programming aimed
specifically at this group. While SABC Television continuously offers
certain community and minority groups the opportunity to represent
themselves with programmes such as Eastern
Mosaic
and Muvhango,
the same is not even attempted for the Coloured community (a
recognised previously disadvantaged group in terms of South African
legislation). Where Coloureds or their communities are featured in
SABC television programming it is more on the periphery or incidental
and not on a decidedly focused basis for this community.

In
terms of facilities granted to other cultural and ethnic groups,
almost all groups have some degree of access to exclusive facilities,
like Lotus
FM
catering predominantly for the Indian community, and other stations
catering for their respective audiences: Ukhozi
FM
(Zulu), Motsweding
FM
(Tswana), Lesedi
FM
(Sotho) and Thobela
FM
(Pedi) to mention but a few. Even the closely related languages of
seSotho and sePedi each has a state-sponsored radio station. It can
be argued that Radio
Sonder Grense
has made some attempt to cater for the unique needs of the Coloured
community. Regrettably, such efforts fall far short of meeting even
the basic expectations of the Coloured community as there is indeed a
profound distinction between the social needs, traditions, cultures,
language, preferences and aspirations of the White Afrikaner and the
Coloured communities. It can further be argued that although the
Coloured community is statistically the largest group of Afrikaans
speakers in South Africa, the only SABC radio station (RSG)
which caters for the Afrikaans language nationally has its
programming severely skewed in favour of White Afrikaner interests
and tastes, further prejudicing South Africa’s Coloured community.

This
begs the question as to the view which the SABC has of the Coloured
community in its entirety. Are Coloured South Africans deemed “less”
South African than any other social groups to whom the SABC has a
clear mandate and content plan? Has the SABC at its own behest
decreed that the Coloured community is simply undeserving of any
community-specific state media, as is so graciously doled out to
every other group? Surely this cannot be the case and it is our firm
intention to engage with the SABC, the SABC Board and the National
Minister of Communications on this matter in order to bridge this
impasse and prevent the further marginalisation of the Coloured
people (whether deliberate or accidental) by the SABC.

It
is undoubtedly a constitutional imperative that all census-defined
social groups of this country enjoy equal access to state media
facilities in order that we can all celebrate in our diversity and
rebuild our communities on an equal footing. The Coloured community
of South Africa is at the epicentre of this country’s struggle:
from colonialism, to slavery, to apartheid and now in freedom, we
remain an integral part of the South African social fabric.

We
hereby implore that you give this matter your full attention and
suggest that you meet with us in order to properly ascertain the
extent of the problem. We would like to work together with the SABC,
the SABC Board and the National Minister of Communications in
addressing and rectifying this matter which is of grave concern and
which we deem a gross injustice not only to Coloured people, but to
all South Africans who value the hard fought-for virtues of equality
and freedom.

We
thank you for your time and consideration of this matter and, with a
co-operative spirit, we anticipate a response at your earliest
convenience.

Sincerely,
Ronald
S Dyers

Chairman
– South African Movement for Equality

www.same.org.za

Directors:

RS
Dyers
(Chairman), CEAsh
(IT & Communications), JBMcLean
(Finance), NPPerkett
(Organisation, Strategy & Projects), JMPaulsen
(Arts & Culture), AJElliot
(Events & Marketing)