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Cape Town – SABC CEO Lulama Mokhobo revealed that the public broadcaster's soaps have been told to start reflecting South African society's problems in storylines.
Mokhobo was speaking at the annual general meeting on Wednesday in Braamfontein, Johannesburg of the public pressure group advocating for public broadcasting, the SOS Coalition.
Mokhobo said that the public broadcaster's local soaps are being encouraged to take on pressing South African societal problems, for instance substance abuse which are visibly going to be worked into storylines. The SABC currently broadcasts Generations, Muvhango, 7de Laan and Isidingo.
Attention is also going to be given to public discourse and current affairs programming often hidden away and scheduled late at night. Mokhobo said she will be sorting out scheduling problems such as The Big Debate shown "when people are sleeping".
'Raise the hopes of the people of the SABC'
The SABC just got the struggling broadcaster’s second interim SABC board in four years, but Mokhobo said the SABC will "begin to raise the hopes of the people of the SABC".
Staff morale within the broadcaster constantly ebbs lower as the broadcaster keeps being rocked by top level resignations, public in-fighting between executives, corporate governance crises and public scorn over bad programming.
"We are not about to fold up and die, that I can promise you. And for as long as I'm at the SABC, I can assure you, we are not going to have the kind of very bad financial situation that we've just come out of. And I'm quite sure that we will begin to raise the hopes of the people of the SABC," said Mokhobo.
Mokhobo also promised and committed herself to meeting with the SOS Coalition at least one a quarter in the future to help with building a stronger South African public broadcaster.
The SOS Coalition said that the SABC is "an essential institution to our democracy and that we have no choice but to ensure that it operated effectively and in the public interest." The public pressure group also said it supported SABC workers for their tireless efforts to ensure that programming goes out each day despite the public broadcaster's ongoing leadership crises.
Mokhobo was speaking at the annual general meeting on Wednesday in Braamfontein, Johannesburg of the public pressure group advocating for public broadcasting, the SOS Coalition.
Mokhobo said that the public broadcaster's local soaps are being encouraged to take on pressing South African societal problems, for instance substance abuse which are visibly going to be worked into storylines. The SABC currently broadcasts Generations, Muvhango, 7de Laan and Isidingo.
Attention is also going to be given to public discourse and current affairs programming often hidden away and scheduled late at night. Mokhobo said she will be sorting out scheduling problems such as The Big Debate shown "when people are sleeping".
'Raise the hopes of the people of the SABC'
The SABC just got the struggling broadcaster’s second interim SABC board in four years, but Mokhobo said the SABC will "begin to raise the hopes of the people of the SABC".
Staff morale within the broadcaster constantly ebbs lower as the broadcaster keeps being rocked by top level resignations, public in-fighting between executives, corporate governance crises and public scorn over bad programming.
"We are not about to fold up and die, that I can promise you. And for as long as I'm at the SABC, I can assure you, we are not going to have the kind of very bad financial situation that we've just come out of. And I'm quite sure that we will begin to raise the hopes of the people of the SABC," said Mokhobo.
Mokhobo also promised and committed herself to meeting with the SOS Coalition at least one a quarter in the future to help with building a stronger South African public broadcaster.
The SOS Coalition said that the SABC is "an essential institution to our democracy and that we have no choice but to ensure that it operated effectively and in the public interest." The public pressure group also said it supported SABC workers for their tireless efforts to ensure that programming goes out each day despite the public broadcaster's ongoing leadership crises.
