Watchdog or Lapdog? South African Broadcasting Corporation News in the Coverage of the 2021 Local Government Elections

ABSTRACT

The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) post-1994 was transformed into a public service broadcaster, to advance the course of democracy. The SABC newsroom continued to navigate modern technology, although with challenges. Also, the heads of news at the SABC were mainly political deployees who promoted the African National Congress (ANC)-led government's mandate, ignoring the interests of the citizenry. Using the social responsibility theory, this paper argues that the appointment of the new head of news in 2018 revived the SABC’s mandate and the institution performed well in the 2021 local government elections. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with SABC journalists and recorded programmes for news and current affairs for six weeks during the election period, this qualitative study's findings attest that the journalists felt more protected from censorship and political interference, which promoted a culture of ethical performance. However, the SABC newsroom convergence process still appeals to the elite at the expense of its radio platforms. This paper argues that SABC needs to invest more in its radio platforms. Ethical leadership is another crucial ingredient for the SABC to perform its watchdog role, instead of operating as a lapdog of the ANC or politicians from other parties.

KEYWORDS:

• censorship
• lapdog
• SABC
• South Africa
• watchdog

Introduction

The year 1994 marked the new dawning of democracy in South Africa. Modelled along the Reithian model of a public service broadcaster funded by the public and accountable to it, the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) is described by Teer-Tomaselli (2014) as a reflection of South Africa’s politics from its inception. Before democracy, the National Party (NP)-led government had successfully embraced the SABC to advance its political agenda; hence, the SABC under the NP was a state broadcaster (Wigston 2020). The NP-led government adopted the SABC African language radio stations as Radio Bantu. Ethnic titles such as Radio Zulu (Ukhozi FM), Radio Sotho (Lesedi FM) and Radio Venda (Phalaphala FM) were used to entrench ethnic divisions among black South Africans (Lekgoathi 2009).

The directors of these radio stations then referred to as Radio Bantu were white Afrikaners who spoke black peoples’ languages, to censor news produced and read by Africans (Lekgoathi 2009). Using the same NP template, the SABC was inherited by the African National Congress (ANC)-led government to broadcast the first democratic elections of South Africa (Wigston 2020). SABC radio, the only medium that the majority of the South African citizenry relied on for news, was pivotal in broadcasting the 1994 elections. SABC radio broadcast in 11 official languages which appealed mainly to the black South African community, and the free and fair elections were mainly credited to the SABC radio. The white South African community was already in tune with voting procedures, hence SABC radio was more critical than SABC television.

In this study, the four radio stations were selected based on their listenership, in different categories, with news and current affairs as anchor programmes. Ukhozi FM has the highest number of listeners in South Africa of about 8 million, followed by Thobela with about 3 million, and Phalaphala FM and SAFM with about 1 million and 593 000 listeners, respectively (Bosch 2017; SABC n.d.). Since its establishment in 1936, SABC owes its success more to its radio component than its television counterpart. A report by the Broadcasting Research Council (BRC) of South Africa in 2021 shows that a staggering 70 per cent of South Africans rely on SABC radio news, compared to a meagre 12 per cent who rely on television news (BRC 2021). Further, the most listened-to radio programmes in 2021 were music at 86 per cent followed by local news at 85 per cent. By province, Ukhozi FM listenership was highest in KwaZulu-Natal at 53 per cent and second highest in Gauteng at 12 per cent (BRC 2021). Lesedi FM listenership was highest in the Free State province at 59 per cent while Thobela FM was the highest in Limpopo province followed by Phalaphala FM at 40 and 18 per cent, respectively (BRC 2021). These figures confirm that despite the rise of other forms of media, including social media, SABC radio news remains the most popular and the cornerstone of the SABC newsroom. Also, the 2021 local government elections (LGEs) were a component of local news, which attracted a great listenership. Scholarly research posits that radio is a traditional mass medium that has transcended the boundaries of both time and technology—in Africa, radio news during elections is still popular (Chiumbu and Motsaathebe 2021).

The LGEs in South Africa are a beacon of hope for the local communities to elect competent and honest candidates to represent them and to ensure the speedy delivery of basic services. With service delivery protests that have become synonymous with South Africa, many of which are characterised by violence (Netswera 2014), SABC radio had a role to play in the coverage of this all-important event through objective and fair coverage based on ethical journalism.

This paper discusses the performance of SABC news with a particular focus on radio news and current affairs programmes during the 2021 LGEs. With the advance of technology, the SABC, like other broadcasters globally, embarked on a media convergence process—the traditional boundaries at the SABC news, however, are still evident. Although many newsrooms the world over have embarked on full-scale media convergence, scholarly research on the processes of media convergence is still scanty (Hasan and Elmasry 2019). Media convergence, in this paper, refers to the process in which news reporting happens across traditional news platforms (radio, television) and modern digital platforms. An associated term is multimedia reporting, wherein journalists report across these platforms (Hasan and Elmasry 2019). It remains to be seen whether the SABC will embark on a full-scale convergence process due to factors such as finances and different language groups. Currently, the traditional boundaries of news reporting are being eroded; hence, the concept of “SABC news” is more appropriate than “SABC radio news” or “SABC television news”. In this paper, the concepts of SABC news and SABC radio news have been used alternatively to recognise news reporting across the three platforms.

News coverage by the SABC, like that of many public service broadcasters, has from time to time been marred by controversies, primarily about being a mouthpiece of the ruling parties of the day (Plaut 2018) during some of the LGEs. The importance of news at the SABC is realised in how various presidents and the ANC-led government have politicised the SABC newsroom. Post-1994, from the Mandela administration until Ramaphosa's era, all elections, including the LGEs and their coverage at the SABC newsroom, have at times shown partiality, imbalance, and bias towards the ruling ANC-led government. Towards the 2009 elections, the SABC newsroom faced allegations of blacklisting political commentators, censorship and editorial interference (Dlamini and Chiumbu 2016). The political commentators were perceived to be against former President Thabo Mbeki, the incumbent president at the time. When Mbeki was recalled in 2009, the SABC was again involved in censorship when the Big Debate, a current affairs programme, was canned due to censorship and political interference (Dlamini and Chiumbu 2016). In 2013, the year after the Marikana massacre wherein black miners involved in a strike were killed (also a year when the ANC-led government was preparing to retain its position as the ruling party) (Bell 2016), the SABC was again used as a puppet to perform the ANC’s political games (Moyo and Osukunle 2022). Being a public service broadcaster, SABC’s position renders it attractive for the ANC and its government to influence the newsroom or capture it completely.

A trend in post-colonial African leaders who assumed power after the reigns of the colonial masters reveals a strong inclination towards control, censorship and a high level of editorial interference. Post-coloniality, the media in Africa censored information and views from the opposition, while permitting sensationalists who appease them to perform in their countries (Millanga 2014). Thus, many African leaders after independence influenced their public service broadcasters in the name of nation-building until the institution became a government agent.

This qualitative study discusses how the SABC news fared in the 2021 LGEs of South Africa, under the Ramaphosa administration with Phathiswa Magopeni as head of news, and how the ANC's decline in votes and poor performance attracted criticisms and accusations of the SABC newsroom by the ANC politicians. The study argues that the social responsibility enshrined in ethical journalism is necessary to affirm the public service mandate of the SABC, as opposed to the ruling party’s self-serving cadre deployment. Drawing on interviews with 24 SABC journalists and 72 SABC programme recordings of the 2021 LGEs, the study reveals how the politicians and businesses competed to protect their vested interests which pose a threat to fair coverage of the LGEs. The news and current affairs programmes were selected to cover a period of six weeks—four weeks ahead of the 2021 LGEs, the week of the LGEs and one week thereafter—for Mondays and Fridays in the mornings and evenings, 24 programmes per radio station (Ukhozi FM’s recorded programmes were not available for the period under review from the SABC archives).

It is argued that the SABC newsroom and its leadership need to protect this all-important institution, and safeguard its integrity, from powerful politicians during all the LGEs. Ethical journalism is one ingredient required to entrench the public service mandate and restore the dignity of the SABC newsroom. Also, the reliance of the SABC on drawing revenue mainly from advertisers shifts the institution to commercialism and thus poses a threat to its autonomy (Chuma 2019).

Research methods

This qualitative study based on the 2021 LGEs was conducted from December 2021 to December 2022 at the SABC regional stations, namely Durban in KwaZulu Natal, Polokwane in Limpopo, and Auckland Park, Johannesburg. The two main questions that the study probed were:

• To what extent did the SABC news and current affairs programmes play a role in the coverage of the 2021 LGEs?

• What role did the newsroom environment play in the coverage of the 2021 LGEs?

Twenty-four SABC journalists from news and current affairs, including assignment editors, and from the political editor’s desk were interviewed for four SABC radio stations: Ukhozi FM, Thobela FM, Phalaphala FM and SAFM. Data was also collected through content analysis of 72 recorded programmes for three of the radio stations, excluding Ukhozi FM for which the recordings were unavailable in the SABC archives. The selection of radio stations was premised on their listenership figures and their anchor on news and current affairs programmes. (SABC n.d.).

Using the convenience sampling technique, the selection of SABC journalists and the recorded programmes was done with a view to eliciting data that would contribute meaningfully to the study (Cresswell and Cresswell 2018). Despite the focus of the study being the SABC radio news and current affairs, four of the 24 journalists were SABC regional news editors, from the assignment editor and political desks, involved in the coverage of the 2021 LGEs. The recorded programmes for news and current affairs covered a period of six weeks.

The SABC journalists have various positions such as assignment editors (editors responsible for the gathering of news), bulletin editors (responsible for the bulletin desk where news and news headlines are read hourly and half-hourly, respectively), current affairs producers (compiling current affairs and hosting the shows), and bulletin producers (compiling and reading news). For ethical reasons, the journalists were anonymised and codes were based on their positions; for example, a news bulletin editor or current affairs executive producer for Ukhozi FM is UFMBE1, 2, or UFMCA1, 2; for SAFM, the code is SAFMBE1, 2, or SAFMCA1, 2; for Phalaphala FM, the equivalent codes are PFMBE1, 2, or PFMCA1, 2; and for Thobela FM, TFMBE1, 2 or TFMCA1, 2. SABC journalists from the assignment editors’ desk and the political editor’s desks were given the codes, SABJ1 and 2. Data were analysed thematically—qualitative data in large volumes, with keywords and phrases used by participants, were considered in capturing themes (Cresswell and Cresswell 2018), and these were aligned with those used in the recorded programmes, both news and current affairs.

The social responsibility theory

Around 1947, the Hutchins Commission envisaged a self-regulated press, with minimal intervention from the state, without posing a threat to editorial independence (Fortner and Fackler 2014). The Social Responsibility theory is an offshoot of the Libertarian theory and was proposed by the Hutchins Commission, after a a fallout between the government and the press. The Hutchins Commission proposed media that was both responsible and accountable (Fortner and Fackler 2014). The social responsibility theory advocates quality journalism achieved through a professional code of conduct—violation of this code of conduct may attract a heavy penalty for the concerned journalists (Fortner and Fackler 2014).

Although media autonomy and private ownership are encouraged, this theory is closely associated with the public service model premised on the Reithian public service model (Fortner and Fackler). With emphasis on the responsible press, the findings of this commission birthed organisations like the American Society of Newspaper Editors and the Society of Professional Journalists (Fortner and Fackler 2014) and, by extension, professional organisations like the South African National Editors Forum (SANEF). Despite limitations, the footprint of the social responsibility theory continues to influence the media in sub-Saharan Africa, post-coloniality. Significantly, the commission recommended freedom of speech for the citizens and critiquing the media while discouraging political interference and a highly commercialised media that would serve the elite (Fortner and Fackler 2014). These democratic principles are in tune with pieces of legislation enacted in South Africa specifically, with the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) Act 153 of 1993 as the forerunner of media self-regulation (Wigston 2020). Public service broadcasters globally face a challenge not only of being under the influence of the ruling parties but also of dependency on advertisers (Pavani 2018). African media scholar Millanga (2014) observes that this has posed a challenge to the public service media in sub-Saharan Africa, wherein politicians and the business sector infiltrated the public service broadcaster, partially or completely.

Press self-regulation is accompanied by autonomy and accountability. Public service broadcasters such as the SABC inherently carry out a public service mandate that must satisfy the needs of the collective, not certain groups of people; hence, they must serve as a platform for plurality and impartiality. Public service broadcasters are accountable to the citizens they serve, and not to politicians or businesspeople. Truthfulness, accuracy and intelligent reporting underpin the social responsibility theory, embraced in the public service mandate of the SABC (Fortner and Fackler 2014). In sum, ethical and professional reporting prevents the government from exercising authority over the media. Adopting these principles makes public service broadcasters’ newsrooms professional, autonomous, or free from political and commercial control.

Literature review

Public service broadcasters post-coloniality: nation-building

Research on public service broadcasters and their performance during elections demonstrates how many of them still sing the tune of the incumbent governments (Millanga 2014). Post-coloniality, a nation-building trend was witnessed in sub-Saharan Africa. African leaders who took over from the colonial regimes used public service broadcasters to reverse the atrocities of the white colonial rule (Wigston 2020). Nkwameh Nkrumah, the first African leader in Ghana after independence, used the country's public service broadcaster to advance his course of national development, to eliminate poverty and illiteracy (Wigston 2020). In countries like Malawi, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa, the same pattern of development and nation-building was prevalent.

Public service broadcasters as propaganda machinery

The nation-building or development agenda for the public service broadcaster in most of these African countries was short-lived. Having realised the influence that the public service broadcaster commands, African leaders turned this all-important asset into a propaganda machine. In that regard, the public service broadcaster became a legitimising machine for the coups d'état during the reign of dictators like Mobutu Sese Seko in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Idi Amin in Uganda, and Sani Abacha in Nigeria (Adebayo 2019).

African dictators like Mobutu Sese Seko (DRC), Idi Amin (Uganda), Robert Mugabe (Zimbabwe) and currently Yoweri Museveni (Uganda) also legitimised their rule through this institution (Adebayo 2019). During the Rwandan genocide, the public service broadcaster Radio Télévision Libre de Mille Collines is believed to have been instrumental in fuelling the violence and genocide through recurring and tolerated hate speech (Adebayo 2019). Thus, public service broadcasters in sub-Saharan Africa and elsewhere have mostly become political pawns of the ruling parties.

SABC post-1994 and nation building

The SABC's legitimising legislation was primarily the IBA Act 153 of 1993, to render the broadcasting sector autonomous (Bronstein and Katzew 2018). After the first democratic elections, this piece of legislation not only entrenched the broadcasting sector but also secured the autonomy of both the private and public broadcasting sectors. The ANC-led government under the Mandela administration was perceived by some liberation movements to have sold out to whites by gaining political power without economic power, hence some of their legislation like the IBA Act 153 of 1993 were considered a “compromise” (SAHO 2019). Subsequently, the constitution and the Broadcasting Act of 1999 further elevated the former state broadcaster, SABC, to a public service broadcaster (Bronstein and Katzew 2018).

During the first democratic elections of 1994, the SABC successfully covered the first democratic elections, and it earned the name of a “nation-building” asset (Bronstein and Katzew 2018). The Mandela regime agreed to the Convention for a Democratic South Africa (CODESA) negotiations in Kempton Park, Johannesburg, which led to the 1994 democratic elections. There were political organisations such as the Azanian People's Organisation (AZAPO) which refused to participate in the 1994 democratic elections, considering them illegitimate (SAHO 2019). Also, the SABC's template of the different languages that were meant to further entrench ethnicity was reversed, to become a symbol of national unity (Wigston 2020). Under the rainbow nation, the SABC was then adopted by the ANC-led government to become a model broadcaster in the African continent.

Whilst the performance of the SABC is protected from political interference through legislation, the SABC is not protected from commercial interests, drawing more than one-third of its revenue from advertising (Chuma 2019). The commercialisation of the SABC left the institution under the wings of big commercial players, competing with other commercial broadcasters and inevitably affecting its public service mandate.

Cadre deployment at the SABC

The Mandela era was a honeymoon period, an era of peaceful negotiations, unity and transition. Regardless, from the time of its establishment as a public service broadcaster post-1994, the ANC-led government was reluctant to release the SABC newsroom. Nelson Mandela, being the first democratic president, seemed ready to serve the citizenry in fairness and justice. His view of state media relations was that “A critical, independent and investigative press is the lifeblood of any democracy” (Mandela Foundation 2023, 1). Mandela's right-hand man, Cyril Ramaphosa, seemed to hold a similar view on state media relations. While addressing a campaign before the CODESA, Ramaphosa said that the ANC promotes an autonomous and free state media that is committed and loyal to its society (Phamodi 2016). This view of some of the ANC key leaders set the tone for a good media environment in post-1994 South Africa and the SABC, specifically. However, when former President Thabo Mbeki took over from President Mandela, it became apparent that the views held by Mandela and Ramaphosa were not entirely shared by the ANC. The SABC became a springboard to test the ANC towards the management of this all-important institution, namely, the public service broadcaster, SABC and its newsroom. Although Mandela relinquished power in 1996, there were already signs and symptoms of controlling the SABC newsroom: for instance, the appointment of Mr Zwelakhe Sisulu as SABC Chief Executive—the son of a fellow Rivonia trialist and key ANC revolutionary, Mr Walter Sisulu (SAHO 2019). Before the SABC position, Zwelakhe Sisulu had been a personal assistant of former President Nelson Mandela, and his appointment to the SABC was political (SAHO 2019).

When President Mbeki took over, the SABC newsroom was clearly on the ANC’s side. The appointment of the SABC board, although meant to be a transparent process, was characterised by ANC political deployees (Moyo and Osukunle 2022). The first chairperson of the Board, Dr Matsepe Ivy-Casaburri, later became the Minister of Communications. Ivy-Casaburri was the chairperson of the board during the appointment of Zwelakhe Sisulu (Plaut 2018). Next, Dr Snuki Zikalala was head of news, and this was again a deliberate move by the ANC to reign in the SABC newsroom (Plaut 2018). From the chairperson of the SABC Board to the Chief Executive Officer(CEO) and the newsroom head of news, all were political deployees from the ruling ANC. The SABC newsroom was captured from the time of the first democratic President of South Africa, Nelson Mandela. The euphoria of the Mandela era deterred critical analysis of the performance of the SABC, so things started unfolding in the era of Mbeki, after the excitement had subsided.

With his African renaissance message, former President Mbeki viewed the media as pushing a white political agenda and therefore an enemy of the black government of the ANC (Plaut 2018). Black journalists particularly were thus supposed to rally behind the ANC-led government and not criticise it. These were journalists in the private sector, meaning it was a given that SABC journalists were behind the ruling party. It was during the Mbeki era that the head of news, Dr Zikalala, was suspended for his political blacklist, particularly during elections (Bronstein and Katzew 2018). Under the administration of Mbeki, Dr Ivy- Matsepe-Casaburri was appointed Minister of Communications, and the Broadcasting Act of 1999 was amended in 2000 (Bronstein and Katzew 2018). One of the key amendments was for the Minister of Communications to approve the final version of the editorial policies, and this caused an uproar from the opposition; consequently, the powers were vested instead in the SABC Editorial Board (Bronstein and Katzew 2018). There were justifications from the Minister's side about the amendments of the bill, but many viewed this as a way of controlling the SABC. The amendment was again viewed as a way for the ANC to get into the SABC newsroom through the back door (Plaut 2018). The next chairperson, Mr Zulu Paulus, was not different from his predecessor, nor were the others that followed. They all worked under strict political surveillance. Around 2008–2009, when the SABC backlist scandal hit the SABC newsroom, the then presiding head of news, Dr Snuki Zikalala, allegedly an ally of former President Mbeki, was acting to protect his political allegiance and the number one citizen of the country, Mbeki (Bronstein and Katzew 2018). All critiques of ANC politicians were thus banned from the SABC news and current affairs.

When President Jacob Zuma assumed the presidency, after Mbeki was recalled in 2009, the control of the SABC was at its peak. The transition from the Mbeki era to the Zuma era was equally reflected in the SABC newsroom. Plaut (2018) affirms that the SABC newsroom became a battleground for the factional tensions brewing within the ANC between the camps of presidents Mbeki and Zuma. When Minister Faith Muthambi was appointed, she was allegedly a close ally of President Jacob Zuma (Kriege 2019). It was during her tenure in the Ministry that the SABC appointed a controversial Chief Operations Officer(COO), Mr Hlaudi Motsoeneng, and he became a central figure in pushing the Zuma agenda. During an election workshop in 2016, Hlaudi showed that violent scenes were no longer to be covered on SABC news and censored the voices of the Economic Freedom Front(EFF), a political party that was known to be against the president (Kriege 2019). This caused a stir at the SABC, resulting in eight journalists being suspended under the case called “The SABC 8”, which landed the SABC in hot water. The journalists in question were subsequently paid or reinstated, further crippling the cash-strapped institution (Kriege 2019). The newsroom became a political hub of the ANC. At the peak of the state capture, during the era of former President Zuma, the former Public Protector Thuli Madonsela drafted a report (Umraw 2019) which recommended a commission of enquiry into state capture, with the SABC as one of the institutions to be investigated. The SABC was captured by both the ANC politicians and the Gupta family, an Asian dynasty and empire of close allies of the former President Zuma who benefitted from the SABC, even financially. Zuma was recalled and succeeded by the incumbent president, Ramaphosa.

Findings and discussion

This study was primarily premised on semi-structured interviews with SABC journalists and news and current affairs radio programmes during the coverage of the 2021 LGEs. The following key issues were probed: newsroom convergence, newsroom environment and editorial interference.

Newsroom convergence

On newsroom convergence and its implications, it emerged during the interviews that the new management at the SABC had phased out the bimedia system, wherein news and current affairs were packaged separately for each medium,—for example, the previous system was that radio news was gathered and processed separately from television news. All journalists confirmed that currently, there is one news department at the SABC, with journalists responsible for input (gathering news and packaging) and output (news dissemination) for the three platforms, namely radio, television and digital. Many journalists commended this initiative for the newsroom convergence (the merger of radio, television, and digital platforms). A participant expressed their appreciation as follows:

You see one excellent move that the new management came up with was to integrate the newsroom. Right now, there is no radio or TV newsroom, the newsroom is integrated. Everyone is expected to be able to cover stories for both radio and TV, not just radio and TV but for digital as well. We have a very critical platform called digital news. It's been a blessing in disguise because you have several instances where people were placed in situations where they don't fit, and we’ve found out that there are people who have always been radio reporters but who are very good at TV and vice versa. So, it has created a situation where people are able to multitask, and people are able to discover new talent. It has widened the pool of our news reporters. (UFMCA1 2021)

Basically, at the SABC newsroom, there is no more reporting for a single platform such as radio or television. Although the newsroom convergence process was introduced to eliminate the boundaries between the three platforms, this process may take some time; at present, the boundaries still exist, and the digital platform seems to accommodate mainly English radio and television news. For instance, Ukhozi FM, the biggest radio station, did not have any recordings in the SABC archives and there were not even podcasts for the Ukhozi FM website, for the 2021 LGEs from September to October 2021. Materials for this radio station were available from August 2021 backwards and from November 2021 onwards.

Recorded programmes from its sister radio stations, Thobela FM, Phalaphala FM and SAFM, were all available. The reason provided by a participant from Ukhozi FM was that the SABC website was hacked in 2021 and this affected Ukhozi FM in particular. SAFM had both recordings from the SABC radio news archives and podcasts that were on their website for the 2021 LGEs. Phalaphala FM and Thobela FM had only recordings and no podcasts for their websites, on the 2021 LGEs.

The SABC also created a website specifically for the 2021 LGEs which had the most podcasts, 232 in total, while SAFM had 93 podcasts (SABC 2021; SAFM 2021). The newsroom convergence seems to focus on the English radio, television and digital platforms, which buttresses the view that SABC’s embrace of commercialisation, particularly evident in English radio and television channels (particularly 404), dilutes its public service mandate through competition with all broadcasters, including commercial broadcasters (Chuma 2019) both national and international.

African language radio stations like Phalaphala FM, Ukhozi FM and Thobela FM have no competition since they are the only ones around the globe using their languages. Newsroom convergence, therefore, is more urgent for the English-speaking audience. Comments by a participant confirmed that the digital platform is mainly a concern of English-language radio while the African-language radio stations were not primarily concerned with the digital platform and adding their content there:

With the digital platforms, some of the digital producers are based here in Auckland Park. The radio stations which have current affairs programmes, at times you will find a radio like Ukhozi FM would also go and cover an event like the elections, but they won't do predominantly too much analysis as the English medium radio stations, at times they do, yes. Even if they have current affairs, they don't do too much analysis, as much as us [meaning SAFM]. (SAFMCA 3)

Media Monitoring Africa (MMA) shows that the biggest platform for the 2021 LGEs coverage was the SABC digital platform, in English, at 32 per cent, followed by Ukhozi FM in isiZulu at 11 per cent (Dayile 2022). Although the SABC news digital platform tops the charts, Ukhozi FM’s continued popularity attests to the importance of this medium to its listenership, even during the LGEs.

Service delivery gauge

Before the 2021 LGEs, SABC news introduced a current affairs programme known as the Service Delivery Gauge (SDG). Specific days such as Fridays and Sundays were dedicated to service delivery matters. The programme aimed to conduct a full-scale audit to determine the quality of service delivery in all the areas where the citizens reside, under the different municipalities. The audience was also requested to rate their local municipalities with colours—red (worst performance), amber (fair performance) and green (great performance)—via the WhatsApp number provided (SABC 2021). The municipality's performances were rated by all stakeholders in terms of their level of service delivery.

This programme investigated the dire lack of services such as water, electricity, sanitation, health, and other service delivery matters. The SABC research unit conducted and provided research on issues such as the municipality’s profile, previous audit records, and budget allocation. The audit records, and the budget for the specific municipality under the spotlight, were also analysed. The officials in the municipality were also interviewed, and they were also asked to rate the level of service delivery in terms of the three colours. With the ANC being the ruling party, this automatically meant the municipalities under the spotlight were mostly under the ANC. There were also municipalities under the Democratic Alliance (DA) which were investigated, but obviously these were fewer in number.

The citizens and municipal officials, the latter usually political deployees of the political parties in charge of those municipalities, were also interviewed on how they felt about the level of services they were receiving in those municipalities. For instance, in Makana, the municipality was exposed for still using the outdated “bucket system”—a toilet system where the latrine is picked up regularly (SABC 2021). This system was used during the Apartheid era and it was shocking that the SABC news exposed this sanitation method and other ills related to the poor service delivery of the municipality, which many never expected to exist under the democratically elected black government of the ANC. The bucket sanitation system exposed the citizens to sicknesses and diseases such as cholera and dysentery. The SABC current affairs programme, SDG, meant that the SABC news left no stone unturned in the 2021 LGEs—the ANC’s poor service delivery and corruption were exposed. In this programme, many of the viewers interviewed indicated their dissatisfaction with the ruling party. As one participant confirmed, the programme became quite popular: “Service Delivery Gauge was very popular, where we were going out and reporting from the peoples’ perspective” (SABCJ1).

Service delivery is a thorny matter in the current democratic South Africa, where ordinary citizens are protesting daily due to poor or non-delivery of services. During the past LGEs—including the 2016 LGEs—SABC news had never before launched such a programme, and they were doing it to focus on what the citizens wanted, not what politicians wanted. SABCJ1 emphasised the centrality of service delivery and the role that SABC news had to play in the 2021 LGEs:

The local government elections touch the ordinary people, which means our planning was in the main centred around what people wanted, what they expected, and then what the leaders or political parties were offering. So as part of planning we engaged in those processes, the preliminary processes to check, and the approach we had to take based on the event that was happening. In this event, as I have said, it was local government elections, it was mainly about service delivery to the ordinary men and women on the streets. What do we mean by service delivery, we mean the provision of services like roads, are the roads fixed, are people getting clean water, is the grass getting cut and are the streetlights up?

MMA affirms that SABC’s 2021 coverage on service delivery featured prominently during the 2021 elections, as opposed to previous elections: “Stories about service delivery/community protests, and voter education featured more prominently than before, collectively garnering 15% of total coverage” (Dayile 2022, 5).

However, the SDG programme was primarily created for SABC television news and SABC digital platforms. SABC radio news did not cover the programme in its entirety, as reflected in the 72 SABC recorded programmes for the three radio stations. For television, this current affairs programme lasted for about an hour; videos are available on YouTube from the SABC news website and the SABC digital platform. The current affairs programmes hosted by SABC radio only presented clips, as one participant from the African language radio stations acknowledged. For instance, a closer analysis of the SDG on Sunday 10 October 2021, hosted by Sakhina Khanwendo on SABC news television channels and digital platforms, focused on Makana Municipality, formerly known as Grahamstown. The show discussed the infrastructure, the councillors, the budget and performance, and the viewers gave their input and rated the municipality. The vox populi revealed that all the citizens interviewed in the street rated the municipality red (SABC, 10 October 2021). The following day, morning and evening, two radio stations, Thobela FM and Phalaphala FM, hosted their current affairs programmes. These two current affairs shows did not play a single clip of the SDG show hosted the previous day on SABC television news. The shows for the two radio stations were instead a mix of news ranging from local to international, with some focus on the 2021 LGEs but not on what the SDG programme for Makana Municipality in Makhanda hosted the previous day. SDG was a television show for the elite, but the general citizenry of South Africa—listening to the radio stations—was sidelined. A participant remarked on the investment in television news as opposed to radio news as follows:

It’s a constant fight that we radio staff had to wage daily in that you have different executives that come and unfortunately, with the Phathiswa Magopeni era there was a lot of focus on channel 404. We had to fight and say 404 is not even terrestrial, it's digital. It has 200,000 viewers. You look at SABC radio, where you have 19 radio stations, and X-KFM makes it 20. With Ukhozi you already have 8 million listeners. When the proposal came for a service delivery gauge, we fought. (SAFMBE1)

Participant TFMCA1 indicated how they would give preferential treatment to television as opposed to radio while making editorial decisions:

You can send a radio journalist there to do a package, but you can’t take a TV camera to travel 350 km return for a crowd of 15 people. So, you have to make an editorial decision. If you take a TV camera, it’s for national coverage. Television news coverage is about 22 minutes, so you have to make an editorial decision that what you send out is usable.

Television news as a platform of prestige was quite evident at the SABC during the 2021 LGEs and clearly prioritised during editorial decision-making. Although the SDG was a great current affairs programme, the primary viewership was the elite who owned television sets. Ironically, those who engage in service delivery protests in South Africa are mainly those at the grassroots level, primarily dependent on SABC radio news. When SABC radio news fails to deliver its mandate to its constituencies, service delivery protests will remain.

Newsroom environment

The environment at the SABC newsroom has always been under surveillance, mainly from the ruling ANC and its business allies, and a precedent was set wherein most heads of news toed the line of the ANC politicians (Bronstein and Katzew 2018). During the Mandela era, the situation at the SABC newsroom seemed fine, but it was not. During the 2021 LGEs when President Ramaphosa had just been appointed, the ANC-led government seemed very careful about controlling the SABC newsroom, until after the 2021 elections results were announced. So, the careful treading of the ANC politicians was superficial because the ANC blamed SABC news for its loss during the elections (Bizcommunity 2021).

A question on the performance of the SABC news in the 2021 LGEs was linked to the new leadership, specifically the new head of news, Phathiswa Magopeni. A participant blamed the performance of the SABC news in the previous elections and LGEs on the heads of news aligned to the ruling party, the ANC: “The problem at SABC is not journalists, it's the leadership” (PFMCA1 Interview 2021).

All the participants confirmed that the Phathiswa Magopeni era was different from the previous ones. They all indicated that the newsroom was safer and more transparent, in contrast to the previous eras where censorship, editorial and political interferences were prevalent. One participant said: “Having started at the SABC news around 2015, you could sense a difference when she came. The editorial meetings were more robust. Journalists also had editorial freedom, so we didn't feel constrained, which was great” (SAFMBE1).

The participant contrasted the new era to the preceding era under Hlaudi Motsoeneng and showed how the terminology of certain events and stories was diluted to divert attention from their seriousness as a way of covering the ANC politicians. This participant gave an example of the Marikana massacre in 2012, that previously it was stressed in the diary meetings of the SABC newsroom that it is the “Marikana tragedy”, not the “Marikana massacre”.

The participants’ overall perception was that Phathiswa Magopeni's leadership skills drastically changed the newsroom environment from what it used to be. Her era was juxtaposed with the era of Hlaudi Motsoeneng, the former COO who used to frequent the newsroom as if he were a journalist, even though he was not. A participant gave credit to her leadership qualities thus:

I'll credit this to Phathiswa because when she came in, she was very clear in saying the SABC is governed by the Broadcasting Act, it is not governed by individuals who have certain interests. So the new leadership in the form of the SABC head and then in the form of Phathiswa was very instrumental. That's when she came up with the slogan, ‘independent and impartial’. That was a deliberate slogan to mark a clean break from what had happened during Hlaudi's time. Let's be honest, how did we get to a Hlaudi moment? That is something that remains inexplicable to me as I sit here, it remains inexplicable. No, we hit the lowest point as the SABC at some point. (SABCJ1)

From the findings, the usual culture of the ANC-led government infiltrating the SABC newsroom during the 2021 LGEs was alluded to. A participant narrated an incident of how President Ramaphosa went to Limpopo, on the eve of the 2021 LGEs, to campaign for the ANC and they were told to cover him. This is what the journalist said:

I had to rush here to stop the President, he was campaigning around here. So out of the blue, they said because he's in the province he must go to the SABC studio and be interviewed. So, I had to run here and say no, we can't unless he wants to do those family meetings from here then we can. But if he's here to campaign for the ANC, we're not going to take him. But since we had solid leadership at the top, you knew you had protection, and you could take those decisions. But previously you couldn't. (PFMCA1)

Previously, there was a thin line between the SABC news and the ANC-led government. In political events such as elections, state resources would be abused to cover events of the ANC—a common trend in many countries in sub-Saharan Africa (Millanga 2014). However, the new leadership at SABC news was able to differentiate between the public broadcaster's mandate and the ANC's mandate, as a political party. During the coverage of the 2021 LGEs by the SABC under the new leadership of Phathiswa Magopeni, journalism ethics were observed and politicians including those of the ANC were barred from influencing the coverage.

Another participant narrated how one journalist was severely criticised by a minister for how they had covered an event, and how Phathiswa Magopeni stood up and defended the journalist:

I must say that when Phathiswa came in as the Editor in Chief, there were robust discussions which I really really enjoyed. Even if you would raise something wherein you felt, mhhmhh, here we’ll be compromising ourselves, you would get her support. Even when there were attacks on some of our journalists by politicians. I remember Stella Ndabeni Abrahams, when she was the Minister of Communications, she blocked the SABC camera, I forgot what the journalist was trying to capture but it was during that electioneering season. Phathiswa really stood up and defended the journalist. That was unheard of since I joined the SABC. So, you even felt that even if the stance that you took was unpopular, you knew that you would be defended from the top.

All the participants concurred that during the Phathiswa Magopeni’s era, they enjoyed working as professional journalists, not journalists influenced by politicians of any political party. During the time of data collection for this study, Phathiswa Magopeni was still the head of news, and just after the first phase of gathering the data from SABC Limpopo, she was expelled from the SABC. Phathiswa Magopeni was later appointed to the SABC Board in 2023. Although there was a case that led to her expulsion, some of the participants viewed her expulsion as political. This was one participant's view:

Many people think Phathiswa was fired because she refused the President to be interviewed in Polokwane, remember, because the thing hadn't been arranged. The fact that she was able to stand her ground cost her the job. I mean if you can stand your ground to the President, who else can sway you? She said she got a call from the CEO, from the chairperson. She said we've not arranged for the interview; it's not going to happen. (SABCJ1)

After the 2021 LGEs, Minister Fikile Mbalula blamed the SABC news’s coverage for their poor performance and loss, an interpretation which they rejected (Matlala 2021). Minister Mbalula specifically launched a scathing attack on the head of news, Phathiswa Magopeni. The minister also blamed the SDG programme, which in his view was directed to ANC municipalities while ignoring DA municipalities:

Mbalula has also criticised the SABC Group Executive of News and Current Affairs, Phathiswa Magopeni. Addressing the media at Luthuli House in Johannesburg on Thursday, Mbalula said that the SABC was a big problem—You guys during the local government elections ran a programme called gauge. That programme meant that you were putting the ANC on the backfoot. You were in all these majority municipalities showing our weaknesses. (Matlala 2021, 1)

Also, after the 2021 LGEs, two journalists from a sister radio station, Lesedi FM in the Free State Province, were threatened. Dimakatso Motsoeneng, Lesedi FM’s senior producer, received death threats and violence against her family and children. A colleague, Palesa Chubisi, also received threats from ANC allies (Bizcommunity 2021).

These journalists were accused of being the major contributors to the loss of the ANC in Metsimaholo municipality. The women journalists were particularly threatened with rape, cyber-harassment and even murder (Bizcommunity 2021). The SABC news had dug into service delivery matters which touched on corruption in South Africa. The level of corruption in the country affects the poor and it has been primarily perpetuated by the ANC-led government. Coupled to the COVID-19 pandemic, these were some of the major contributing factors to the low voter turnout, and perhaps to an extent the dwindling votes for the ANC in the 2021 LGEs. Nonetheless, the coverage of these matters during the 2021 LGEs was within the public service mandate and scope of the SABC news across all platforms. The MMA report on the 2021 LGEs praised the SABC news for its coverage of the 2021 LGEs: “MMA pays tribute to everyone at the public broadcaster for their inspiring coverage of the 2021 elections” (Dayile 2022, 19).

Conclusion

This study outlined the SABC news performance in the coverage of the 2021 LGEs and how the newsroom convergence and the newsroom environment affected its performance. Seventy-two recorded programmes requested from the SABC archives were analysed (Ukhozi FM’s recordings were not available). Due to the newsroom convergence process, it became appropriate to talk about SABC news, although the focus of the study was on SABC radio news. The popular Service Delivery Gauge, an important current affairs programme designed specifically for the 2021 LGEs, catered mainly for elite television viewers while ignoring the listenership of SABC radio news and current affairs.

Semi-structured interviews conducted with 24 SABC news journalists revealed that during the 2021 LGEs, the SABC head of news, Phathiswa Magopeni, revived the SABC's professional and ethical responsibility in the newsroom in line with ethical journalism. This study concludes that it is time for SABC to become a genuine watchdog that tells the South African public what they need to know. The SABC should heed the call for its professional journalistic role and the public service mandate in future elections in South Africa, through ethical leaders who can resist political capture from the ANC and other political parties.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).