Alarm bells ring Hlaudi and clear

Under no circumstances must Hlaudi Motsoeneng, the chief operating officer of the SABC, be allowed to reign like a dictator over the public broadcaster (“What you hear may not be what you SABC”, June 3).

Nobody begrudges him a good job after his many years of service, during which he seems to have imbibed some know-how about broadcasting. But the pronouncements of the past weeks ring bells of a fascist nature loudly.

In the first place, we, the viewers, pay our licences and expect the best. Behind the call for 90% local music on all radio and television stations and 80% local content on the television channels is some kind of fundamentalist idea that the African people can be served by the lowest common denominator, without access to the international world of drama, culture, science, music and education.

We cannot, at this crucial moment in history, when the world is becoming a village, close our minds to the broader international consciousness that is developing.

The public broadcaster requires people at the helm with the widest possible perspectives on all matters. Mature views on politics, education, the arts and culture, science and medical concerns are needed to back all the output of the SABC.

The South African public deserves no less, and it is a lie to tell them that almost purely local input is good enough.

Our people require the best drama, the best music, the best literature, the best debates and discussions on every imaginable topic and, above all, our people need to be the first to know what is happening in the country we love.

There is also discrimination involved, as seen in the shutting down of Radio Lotus’s Indian music programmes. This is an act of racism and the Indian community should protest loudly.

Motsoeneng clearly does not have the required maturity of intellect or cultural knowledge for this important job, and it would be a betrayal of our working population to allow him to continue as the man in charge.

The public broadcaster is far too important to be left in the hands of fundamentalists.