Safeguarding the South African public broadcaster: governance, civil society and the SABC

ABSTRACT The South African public broadcaster, the SABC has faced serious threats to its independence. The ruling African National Congress has been the dominant political party since South Africa’s first democratic elections and factional battles have played out in the SABC from time to time. President Zuma and the Minister of Communications visibly took control of the SABC through Hlaudi Motsoeneng, the Chief Operations Officer between 2011 and 2017. This article examines the mechanisms and processes that allowed institutional safeguards intended to guard the autonomy and independence of the SABC to be subverted. The incorporation of the SABC as a company accounts for some of its vulnerability. Although good institutional and governance structures are important for any public broadcaster, they cannot protect the institution on their own. Vocal political support for independent public broadcasting crossed frontiers of race, class and politics. This support accounts for the resilience of the SABC.