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As the country gears up for a general election with Jacob Zuma as ANC president, the struggle for control of the SABC is getting nasty. A powerful ally like the public broadcaster would make it easier for the ANC to influence voters' decisions, writes Makhudu Sefara.

IN a couple of months, electioneering for the country’s fourth general elections will reach fever pitch. And, at almost the same time, ANC president Jacob Zuma is likely to be in the middle of a dirty fraud and corruption trial at the Pietermaritzburg High Court. The public relations disaster that the decision to disband the Scorpions has become would have escalated into a bitter battle either in the Pretoria High Court or the Supreme Court of Appeal.

Critics say the country’s successful crime-busting team is facing extinction because of the unit’s probe of Zuma and other ANC leaders.

The image of the party leader, questionable decisions taken by the ruling party and its less-than impressive service delivery record create the impression of a ruling party in distress. The picture does not look as rosy as it did for the 2004 general elections.

The ANC needs a powerful ally like the SABC to, as Edward S Herman and Noam Chomsky put it in their book Manufacturing Consent, “fix the premises of discourse, to decide what the general populace is allowed to see, hear, and think about”.

Despite the drama surrounding it, the SABC remains a potentially powerful tool to deliver propaganda for ruling parties – a task it has fulfilled over the years.

The importance of election discourse was also made clear this week by Independent Electoral Commission chairperson Brigalia Bam, who said the media plays a key role in popularising certain parties.

Ahead of the contest in Polokwane the Zuma camp in the ANC, which included secretary-general Gwede Mantashe, complained that the Mpofu-led SABC favoured the Thabo Mbeki faction with positive coverage.

Mpofu’s SABC allowed Mbeki a two-hour interview broadcast on most radio stations in what was viewed as an attempt by the Mbeki faction to shore up support against Zuma. The strategy did not have the desired effect.

Mantashe said this week that the ANC wants “an SABC that is objective, that is unbiased” and one that does not take sides in factional battles within the ANC.

Why would Mantashe remind the SABC to be impartial if it already was? Decoded, his comment means that the ANC wants the SABC completely behind it.

To understand why the ruling party is obsessed with the SABC, one need only fix a beady eye on its radio division. The SABC has 18 radio stations which, according to the All Media Products Survey (AMPS), have a reach of 19 million of the 22 million adults who listen to radio in South Africa.

In addition, the SABC’s three free-to-air television channels attract more than 17 million adult viewers a day. There is no media institution in the country other than the SABC that can claim this much access to potential voters.

The ructions at the public broadcaster, according to a number of sources, are rooted in the change of guard that happened in Polokwane, where Zuma defeated Mbeki to become party leader.

But if Mbeki could not “fix the premises of discourse” and lost with the support of the SABC, why would the broadcaster be this important to the Zuma-led ANC leadership?

“The SABC could not have been effective with intra-party battles because there you are dealing with a small group of political activists already embedded in factions.

“But next year the SABC will be relevant to the millions of adults, the population, the masses, including people who are ignorant of political developments in the country, who will be casting their votes,” said an ANC leader.

According to the source, the suspension by SABC group chief executive Dali Mpofu of SABC head of news Snuki Zikalala had to do with Mpofu’s desire to appease the new incumbents at Luthuli House, the ANC’s headquarters.

The board suspended Mpofu shortly after he acted against Zikalala.

“Look, Dali has reached the end of his rugged road,” said the source. “He is in trouble with the board for non-performance and, instead of dealing with their queries, he runs to politicians to ask for support and protection from the board.”

The board insisted Mpofu failed as a chief executive and cited a number of incidents: Budget approvals were done late; earnings dropped; board resolutions weren’t implemented; there was a lack of preparation for 2010 relating to the spectacle’s technology aspects; and Mpofu dragged his feet appointing key staff, including a chief operations officer and chief technology officer.

Board members felt Mpofu was a celebrity boss, more interested in ensuring he was featured on SABC news platforms than performing his duties.

They said the loss of PSL and International Cricket Council broadcast rights to SuperSport was a direct result of an absent boss. They argued that the cricket deal was scuppered because the deadline for signing passed while it lay on his desk.

However, others in the SABC said the deal came unstuck because of SABC bureaucracy.

The spat blew into the open this week with Zikalala’s suspension. However, a source said the fuse started burning when Mpofu approached Communications Minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri for help in dealing with the board.

She allegedly told Mpofu she would protect him from the board if he helped her achieve what the previous board chairperson, Eddie Funde, could not help her with: the re-employment of Hlaudi Motsoeneng. This was denied by Matsepe-Casaburri’s spokesperson, Joe Makhafola.

Motsoeneng, formerly an executive producer on Lesedi FM, allegedly ensured that the minister was regularly on air when he worked for the station.

“Now that this man is no longer at Lesedi, the minister is hardly featured. Her popularity is taking a knock and she wants him back.

“Lesedi caters mostly for the minister’s constituency of the Free State. Does she want Motsoeneng back in order to revive her profile? It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that one,” said a source.

Mpofu, in his drive to warm up to the new ANC leaders and seek allies against the board, also met with treasurer-general Mathews Phosa.

Phosa allegedly asked Mpofu why he should help him if the SABC refused to re-employ Motsoeneng simply because he was seen as a Zuma supporter?

Mpofu apparently realised that Motsoeneng stood between the protection he might get from politicians and his evident demise.

He allegedly ordered Zikalala to re-employ Motsoeneng – an order Zikalala refused to obey.

Phosa reportedly also met with Zikalala, who gave him documents relating to Motsoeneng’s dismissal as proof that Zuma had nothing to do with his reluctance to re-employ him.

Phosa told City Press he was not able to comment on anything related to Motsoeneng because he had acted on the latter’s behalf as a defence lawyer.

However, The Star reported this week that Phosa had denied talking to Zikalala about Motsoeneng or receiving documents from him.

“Mpofu saw Zikalala as a stumbling block to his project to garner support. Zikalala had to go,” said a source.

An insider at the SABC said: “Dali asked Zikalala during a group executive meeting on Tuesday how far he was in re-hiring Motsoeneng. “Zikalala said he was not far as he had referred the matter to board chairperson Khanyisile Mkhonza.

“Dali then allegedly said: ‘You can’t do that’. Snuki said: ‘You can’t stop me’. It was tense. Snuki said he had a right to do an upward referral. Dali said not on a matter like this. Head of human resources Pat Naves interrupted and told Dali that Snuki had a right to an upward referral on all issues.”

It was alleged that Mpofu brought up the topic of Zikalala giving Phosa the documents relating to Motsoeneng’s dismissal. Mpofu then abruptly told Zikalala to clear his office and hand over his access cards pending an investigation.

The problem between Mpofu and Zikalala was that Mpofu had allegedly switched allegiance from the Mbeki camp to the new kings of Luthuli House at a rate his subordinates could not cope with.

“This change was so sudden he shocked and alienated his allies,” said a source.

The political rumpus taking place at the SABC poses serious ethical questions for the management and credibility of the SABC – given the millions of people it services.

With the jostling for power taking place, it is clear that whoever takes over the SABC will have taken over a powerful tool and will be able to fix the premises of discourse, to decide what the general populace is allowed to see, hear, and think about and – most importantly – who they will vote for.

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