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Business | Labour

'Blackout' threat against SABC

JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA Jun 03 2009 12:50
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The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) Crisis Coalition on Wednesday threatened a consumer-driven "blackout" if it was not paid all the money it was owed.

"Of extreme importance to the survival of the industry and the workers in the industry is that the SABC should meet its obligations and pay all outstanding amounts due, immediately," Mabutho Sithole, president of the Creative Workers Union of South Africa told a press briefing in Johannesburg.

"Failure by the SABC to meet this obligation (sic) and we are prepared to organise a massive SABC TV blackout."

The union has joined television industry producers, actors and musicians in its call for the SABC to urgently pay their bills.

Sithole said the SABC continued to miss payments and contractual obligations to the production sector and management continued to hold itself unaccountable.

The crisis group said the current board must step down and Communications Minister Siphiwe Nyanda must call on the portfolio committee in Parliament to get nominations for a new board under way.

The groups also called for a financial bailout for the SABC, which recently said it needed at least R2-billion to pull itself out of its financial problems.

The group and its sympathisers would march to the SABC's offices in Johannesburg and Cape Town on Thursday to present a memorandum containing these demands.

The blackout would be in the form of a consumer-driven mass switch off that would hurt the SABC's advertising revenue. However, it would not withhold production. -- Sapa

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To the Crisis Coalition and the Television Industry Emergency Coalition and all those adversely affected by the smug attitude of this aloof clique at Auckland Park, I say DO IT! Pull that plug! The people are behind you!

Those glib fatcats in silk ties and Sandton suits are the same unaccountables that are feasting at the table of our public money! They're the same board members who slapped a second ban on the satire doccie and to them I say VOETSEK! We want quality television, not the rubbish they import and insist on playing repeats of - put your money where your mouth is and support our local industry, so we can have representative and quality programming! This is not a US colony! Enough with the bling sitcoms and vacuous talkshows!

Phantsi amaSABC execs, VIVA the people!
Travis Lyle on June 3, 2009, 3:52 pm
Phantsi amaSABC execs, you made my day. We need a new blood and enough with Xhosas on our screens who preserved the excluvity of this broadcaster to themselves. And please Mpofu Must "VOETSEK" Too, despite yesterday's court ruling and maybe bring Peter Mathlare must be reconsidered. As for Gabs he is just... I don't know... For Government to bail out the bloody SABC it should give it(SABC) the clear mandate and which amoungst other things is to accomodates all our 11 official languages or else our tax money must not be given to this incompetent idiots.

Viva New SABC board which is representative of South African Society and Quality Programming Viva!!! Fase ka Mbeki's board Fase!!!

It's time for change at the SABC. Nomakanjani!!!
Seathane Peter Ramalema on June 12, 2009, 10:23 am
Travis Lyle is absolutely correct. It seems that "unaccountable" management is the norm in our society (Eishkom)
Those fatuous ninkompoops should all be fired, as well as the people (family members?) that appointed them. Accountability goes all the way to the source.
Robert Sylvester
bob sylvester on June 12, 2009, 10:38 am
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