Get new talent to revive the SABC

AFTER, thanks to the courts, the eventual banishment of SABC pseudo chief operating officer Hlaudi Motsoeneng, many of us frustrated television viewers who are captive to the national broadcaster due to the hyper expensive pay TV contracts, had high hopes that we would see a vast improvement in programming from the absolute pits, to at least passable mediocre content.

Many pensioners rely on SABC TV for our sole form of entertainment, but for the longest time the cupboard has been bare with no improvement in sight.

A few years ago the SABC used to have some excellent audience pullers such as Ally McBeal, How Green was my Valley, The Practice and Seinfeld.

But sadly, the content is increasingly woeful apart from a few innovative shows like TrendingSA on SABC 3, the highly inspirational Authentiek, the zany Nhlala ya Rixaka and the excellent Voetspore on SABC 2, and also some wonderful wildlife shows.

Obviously such excellent shows prove that production houses have the capability to provide quality fare on Aunty SABC.

There was a degree of hope when the SABC started advertising its February line-up with promos.

Old favourites such as Whitney, Ross Kemp’s Extreme World, The Exes and The Bantu Hour on SABC 2 sprang to the fore. But our hopes were soon cruelly dashed when it transpired that all those shows were just jaded repeat screenings.

Shoreline has been dredged out once again for the umpteenth re-screening on SABC 2.

Another popular return is Humans but what are the chances it will not also be a disappointing prime time repeat ?

Such excessive use of repeat screenings shows utter contempt from the SABC for its viewers. One wonders the reason for such contemptuous penny pinching programming. Is it just incompetent programmers or is the SABC going bankrupt and unable to purchase decent new productions, after years of restrictive mismanagement by the Hlaudi Motsoeneng regime?

What next in this shambles? Will the SABC penny-pinch by re-screening News on Monday nights right through the week?

When young whizz-kid Aisha Mohamed, who was station manager of Five FM, joined the SABC as SABC 3 channel manager there was hope for some flair filled improvement on that ailing channel. But unfortunately it seems to be getting even worse. Possibly, not much could have been achieved by any resourceful manager with the stranglehold of Motsoeneng bearing down from above at the “SABC Bungling Towers”.

It’s difficult and almost impossible to change incompetent antediluvian mindsets. Perhaps the only solution is to clean out all the cobwebs and fossilised senior management and send them into purgatory with Motsoeneng, and then start afresh with new flairfilled talent who have the will to provide world-class entertainment ?

Maybe the SABC behemoth should be privatised, but even that solution is doubtful because the other free-to-air channel e.tv is not much better and provides zero competition to spur the national “bore-athon” broadcaster to improve. Benoni

Such excessive use of repeats shows contempt