Newsletter| In an apparent bid to control its election coverage, the ANC has been tightening the screws on the SABC. In a heated meeting on Friday, ANC head of elections Fikile Mbalula confronted editors about what he called a 'blackout' of ANC activities
Hot on the heels of a standoff over board selection, Fikile Mbalula confronts editors about a ‘blackout’ of party’s activities
“He said: ‘SABC news is dealing with the ANC’, as if we are trying to punish them by not giving coverage. But, in fact, the opposite could be seen to be true,” said an impeccably placed source.in the North West, the editors explained to Mbalula that the ANC had so many events in the lead-up to its manifesto launch that they had to actively look for other parties’ events to cover so as not to be accused of giving the governing party too much coverage.
“I did not take any complaints into the meeting. I wanted to understand their approach to their coverage of political parties. We discussed things nicely; it was cordial,” he said. After being accused by civil society and the DA’s Phumzile van Damme of dragging its feet in short-listing candidates to make the board of four remaining members quorate again, the short-listing was scheduled for Tuesday, but did not take place.
Opposition parties dismissed the notion earlier in the day by demanding to know on what legal grounds the four remaining members would face an inquiry so they could be axed according to the terms of the Broadcasting Act.By Wednesday morning, civil society groups the SOS Coalition and Media Monitoring Africa were poised to file an urgent “appeal” at the Constitutional Court to force the committee to short-list 24 candidates for the eight vacant seats.
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