In the crosshairs of ANC factional battles A historical study of the transformation of the SABC from a public broadcaster to an ANC party broadcaster (2008 – 2018)
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Date
2024
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University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg
Abstract
This research set out to investigate the way in which the African National Congress’s political authority influenced changes in the South African Broadcasting Corporation through its webs of power and influence, exercised not only in relation to the Board and various line authorities, but in subtle forms of power exercised through the influence of the ANC’s culture of ‘discipline’, loyalty, and non-critical engagement with authority. Focusing on the years of the Jacob Zuma presidency – 2008 to 2018 – the research explores how the organisational cultures of both the ANC, as an organisation and the leading party in government, and the SABC, enabled the ANC to undermine the SABC’s mandate as a public broadcaster. Both the ANC government’s policies and practices regarding broadcasting and media freedom, and board selection, and the party’s less formal practices, such as cadre deployment, are probed and analysed to understand how the factional battles within the ANC undermined the public broadcaster. A qualitative approach using archival material and in-depth interviews is adopted.
Description
A research report submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts by Research Report in Journalism and Media Studies, School of Literature, Language and Media, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024
Keywords
ANC, SABC, Broadcasting Act, SABC Board, Jacob Zuma, Hlaudi Motsoeneng, Ivy Matsepe- Casaburri, Ben Ngubane, Ellen Tshabalala, Yunus Carrim, Faith Muthambi, Khanyi Mkhonza, Dali Mpofu, Snuki Zikalala, Jimi Matthews, Dina Pule, MultiChoice, Koos Bekker, Daniel Hallin, Paolo Mancini, Adrian Hadland, Mahmood Mamdani, Tom Lodge, neopatrimonialism, political parallelism, Thandeka Gqubule, Tebogo Alexander, Ismail Vadi, Michael Markovitz, Zondo Commission, Public Protector, Dikgang Moseneke, Matojane, Madonsela, Thloloe, Anton Harber, Mvuzo Mbebe, Lindiwe Zulu, Thabo Mbeki, Gqubule-Mbeki
Citation
Mda, Lizeka Noxolo. (2024). In the crosshairs of ANC factional battles A historical study of the transformation of the SABC from a public broadcaster to an ANC party broadcaster (2008 – 2018) [Master’s dissertation, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg].WireDSpace.https://hdl.handle.net/10539/44558.