Mda, Lizeka Noxolo2025-04-032024Mda, 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.https://hdl.handle.net/10539/44558A 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, 2024This 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.en© 2025 University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.ANCSABCBroadcasting ActSABC BoardJacob ZumaHlaudi MotsoenengIvy Matsepe- CasaburriBen NgubaneEllen TshabalalaYunus CarrimFaith MuthambiKhanyi MkhonzaDali MpofuSnuki ZikalalaJimi MatthewsDina PuleMultiChoiceKoos BekkerDaniel HallinPaolo ManciniAdrian HadlandMahmood MamdaniTom Lodgeneopatrimonialismpolitical parallelismThandeka GqubuleTebogo AlexanderIsmail VadiMichael MarkovitzZondo CommissionPublic ProtectorDikgang MosenekeMatojaneMadonselaThloloeAnton HarberMvuzo MbebeLindiwe ZuluThabo MbekiGqubule-MbekiDissertationUniversity of the Witwatersrand, JohannesburgSDG-11: Sustainable cities and communitiesSDG-17: Partnerships for the goals