Afrikaans TV content dwindles amid SABC cash crunch

State broadcaster SABC doesn’t seem to have a vendetta against the Afrikaans language – but is so broke it cannot pay for the productions.

One of the Afrikaans shows, Voetspore, could soon face the axe.

Earlier this month, Afrikaners saw red when the SABC failed to broadcast the Afrikaans news on the first weekend of the month due to technical issues.

SABC doesn’t have vendetta against Afrikaans language

MyBroadband reported that Voetspore’s 14th season would likely be the last viewed on SABC2, after an extensive battle over the SABC’s decision to stop payments in December last year.

AfriForum’s head of cultural affairs Alana Bailey said the organisation was sorry to hear that Afrikaans was being scaled down even further on the SABC.

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“AfriForum is still waiting for feedback on its [Promotion of Access to Information Act] application to the SABC to obtain more information about the Afrikaans news bulletins and their future on the SABC,” she said.

Bailey said the abolition of Voetspore on SABC2 also pointed to the necessity of independent Afrikaans channels and options such as AfriForum TV because they kept the language alive.

Federasie van Afrikaanse Kultuurvereniginge (FAK) operating officer Ziegfried van Huyssteen said “the protection and development of our language and culture is of paramount importance”.

A dying language?

“That is why it is always sad when one hears rumours about Afrikaans as a dying language, whether it is on TV, radio, in the news, or even in schools.

“These types of stories offer an incredible opportunity for every Afrikaans speaker to take ownership of their language again – become storytellers of the future because nurturing and living your language is the only way one will be able to keep it alive,” he said.

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Ziegfried said Afrikaans was by no means a dead language and encouraged everyone to work with FAK to build a future for the language.

MyBroadband also reported that the auditor-general (AG), in a presentation before the standing committee on public accounts last week, said the SABC had shown no real financial improvement despite the R3.2-billion bailout it got in 2019.

AG deputy business unit leader Nathan Lawnet said the public broadcaster missed 48% of its targets in the 2023-24 financial year.

SABC missed 48% of its targets

Lawnet said the declining viewership related to the number of top 20 shows offered by the SABC.

“The more top-rated programmes that you are showcasing mean that you are attracting viewers to come watch your shows. Higher viewership directly correlates to advertising,” he said.

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Political analyst Piet Croucamp said it could be as simple as the SABC was bankrupt and didn’t have money.

“It’s costly for it to fulfil its mandate and legal responsibilities. It has a specific statutory responsibility which includes languages, regions, education and sport,” he said.

Croucamp said it was hard to tell whether there was some sort of political vendetta or vindictiveness behind the decision to remove Afrikaans from the SABC2.

Hard to see political vendetta

“It could well be, like they say if you want to see the pigeons scatter, take their food away,” he said.

Croucamp said the statutory regime according to which they must have a diversity of programmes and different languages, was there for a good reason.

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