CERTAIN Afrikaans speaking community was prepared to march to the public broadcaster, following the non-broadcast of news bulletin over the weekend.
This caused uproar amongst communities, especially the Afrikaans, who feel they were badly treated by the SABC hence the decision to air their concerns by marching.
Although, no details on the date was confirmed for the march, those who sent emails on our platform promised it will happen soon, provided there was no response from the public broadcaster.
This was for the very time such an error took place in the history of the public broadcaster.
Today in a lengthy media release, the SABC acknowledged there was scheduling errors and as a result, consequence processes are underway.
“We wish to address concerns arising from the non-broadcast of the Afrikaans television news bulletin this past weekend. We acknowledge that the bulletin did not air in its regular time slot on Saturday and Sunday, and we confirm that this was a scheduling error. This should not have happened”.
“As management, we are treating this matter with the seriousness it deserves, and consequence management processes are currently underway to address the internal oversight that led to this unfortunate incident.”
“We want to assure the public and our stakeholders that there is no plan or decision to discontinue or deprioritise Afrikaans news.
The Afrikaans television news bulletin continues to air as scheduled from Monday to Friday, and the weekend bulletin will also continue in its regular time slot going forward,” read the media release.
It continued:” Afrikaans remains an important part of our public broadcasting mandate, just as all South African languages are. The SABC is committed to providing equitable access to news and information in all official languages.
The SABC is actively working on a broader content and scheduling strategy aimed at strengthening our language offering, including Afrikaans. This process is part of our new financial year’s content strategy and will be communicated more fully in due course”.
“We acknowledge the deep concern this weekend’s error has caused, particularly within Afrikaans-speaking communities. We extend our sincere and heartfelt apology to the South African public, and especially to those who felt aggrieved by this disruption,” says the public broadcaster in a media statement.
Mmoni Ngubane, SABC head of Communications, says they acknowledge this error caused by scheduling and are on top of it.
On reports of a march by disgruntled Afrikaans speaking communities to the public broadcaster, she said she’s unaware of such, since the matter is being attended to by management, and wish to apologise to the public on what transpired and will not repeat itself.
“We appreciate the continued engagement from the public, civil society organisations, and political parties, and we remain open to further dialogue in the spirit of transparency and inclusivity,” said the SABC.
