SABC feels NDZ’s wrath
Public broadcaster made to apologise for perceived bias against Nkosazana
The SABC has seemingly buckled under pressure and apologised to ANC presidential hopeful Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma following two “suspicious errors” in its TV news coverage of her.
The public broadcaster has instituted an urgent internal investigation into references made to Dlamini-Zuma as “Mini Zuma” and “Zuma exwife” in the space of two months.
Acting Group CEO Nomsa Philiso apologised to DlaminiZuma and announced the internal investigation.
Yesterday, political analyst Dr Somadoda Fikeni described the public broadcaster’s carrying of Dlamini-Zuma’s campaign live on its 24hour news channel as “overcompensating” after the two “errors”.
“We believe that these mistakes were demeaning to Dr Dlamini-Zuma,” Philiso said.
Dlamini-Zuma, meanwhile, used her campaign speech in Empangeni, northern KwaZulu-Natal yesterday to lash out at the public broadcaster while addressing the ANC Cadres Forum.
“We don’t say they must praise us‚ they must just report accurately‚ especially the SABC,” she said.
“The SABC is a public broadcaster and they have channels everybody can access, so they have a bigger responsibility to report accurately. She added: “I won’t go into their disrespectfulness. They apologised.
“I hope they don’t have to apologise a third time.”
The SABC apology came on the heels of two hard-hitting statements from the ruling party’s women’s league and military veterans.
Philiso told Sowetan yesterday that she was expecting at least a “preliminary” report tomorrow from their news management.
“In two months, we’ve apologised twice to the same person. We initially thought it’s a mistake,” she said.
Philiso would not be drawn into commenting on whether heads would roll.
Fikeni said the SABC became a terrain “contested” by ruling party factions ahead of elective conferences.
“It’s because of that contestation, I think that’s the reason now after they seem to have committed some errors, they are overcompensating in order to appease the other side... which speaks to the coverage that they had [of Dlamini-Zuma],” Fikeni said.