Do you think South Africa needs a state-owned broadcaster (the SABC)?

Do you think South Africa needs a state-owned broadcaster (the SABC)?

  • Yes

    Votes: 18 12.7%

  • No

    Votes: 113 79.6%

  • Unsure/Other

    Votes: 11 7.7%
  • Total voters
    142
Bradley Prior

Bradley Prior

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The Minister of Communications and Digital Technology, Solly Malatsi, allocated R234 million to the SABC in his budget vote speech.

The SABC reported a net loss of R253.3 million in the previous 2024/25 financial year.

Read more here.

Do you think South Africa needs a state-owned broadcaster, or should the SABC be shut down if it cannot sustain itself?
 
I think, in principle, there is benefit in a well run state-owned broadcaster with serious independent oversight. Something on a smaller scale doing news, sports and educational programming. The current setup is excessive.

The SABC itself is a lost cause and needs to be liquidated though.
 
No, there is no value in it. If you want education, you YouTube, if you want sport, you have to DSTV, if you want movies and TV shows, you Netflix, Prime or any of the other services...

The SABC as become a money pit, that is not needed!
 
porchrat said:
I think, in principle, there is benefit in a well run state-owned broadcaster with serious independent oversight. Something on a smaller scale doing news, sports and educational programming. The current setup is excessive.

The SABC itself is a lost cause and needs to be liquidated though.
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100%, there is merit in the idea when it is run well and all that.

The SABC as it stands now is not that entity.
 
TV, no.

Radio, I think there is still value for state owned radio stations.l that provide info like SAFM.
 
Cray said:
TV, no.

Radio, I think there is still value for state owned radio stations.l that provide info like SAFM.
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TV should also exist, there is info that is visual or things like documentaries, important state events, etc. that are visual.

A good, independent public broadcaster is indispensable for a modern democracy. It's the only way to try and create an "impartial" news organization that is not tied to business interests and allows for things like shedding light on corruption.

The current SABC is far from that, they are used as a cushy gig by the ANC/connected individuals, and would need an overhaul. A lot of what they broadcast is also not needed, they can cut that, go back to core competencies, which should drastically reduce costs, and in a few years they can look at promoting cultural stuff again, but it should be kept separate from SABC itself, with only SABC covering it at times.
 
The SABC's mandate on education is outstanding and totally laudible. However, the likes of Hlaudi Motsoeneng and his private praise-singing choir (paid for by the SABC) have decimated what once was an extremely well run SOE.
 
Maybe: I do enjoy some of the content on SABC and SABC Plus. For this, I will be happy to part with R200 per annum.
 
the problem with asking a question like that here is that there are too many entitled rich people here who will come up with their po35 "what year is this" attitude and who will start talking about streaming and other means that they employ for their entertainment ..... which realistically is all balls because they are part of the 5% of the country who can afford all that schit

in reality this is a poor country and everyone who says that its not needed really needs a reality check because while that 5% happily pays and gets their streaming garbage what about the majority that cannot afford it - there are people out there who only earn like R5000 to R6000 per month - while most of that 5% who talk about the streaming and schit pay that amount for groceries per month so what will that other 95% of the country watch

and if anyone says that those people can manage without SABC well my friends - it is exactly that attitude why these people steal your phones and hijack your cars and do all the utter schit you complain about ...... because only thinking about your own circumstances and acting accordingly will make you in their eyes an utter po35 that deserves to be a victim of having all your schit taken away ...... the guys who think that they are middle class in this country need to grow a brain - more than 95% of the entire country cannot afford all the schit that you think that you can afford and really with most people living month to month with mostly two to three months of fallback money even the guys who live a rich life can't afford the schit they buy (because they are nowhere near as rich as they think they are) and they then get farked if some cr@p like war or pandemics happen - suddenly they cant afford the car payments or insurance or dwelling bond repayments and even crap like petrol or groceries that they normally now take for granted - each time theres a problem in this country like the aforementioned wars overseas or pandemics even this forum is full of morons complaining and asking when its going to stop because their finances are taking a hit ..... these tw@ttys need to stop acting rich

and no i do not watch SABC - and i do have DSTV and Netflix and other means of getting content BUT i also realize that there are millions out there who cant afford it (many, many more millions than those who can) - and yes it is corrupt and a failing SOE but who else is going to do it for the majority for the people in this country who do need it ..... this forums members need to learn to stop being selfish cantholes and thinking that their way is the only way things need to be done
 
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Hemi300c said:
"state-owned broadcaster" - NO

Anything run or owned or reporting to the state will be useless, corrupt and bias.
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and pray please tell who is going to run something for the masses who don't earn as much as you, that is going to be free to view .... is any person living in a shack going to subscribe to Netflix or DSTV stream?
 
naughty001 said:
and pray please tell who is going to run something for the masses who don't earn as much as you, that is going to be free to view .... is any person living in a shack going to subscribe to Netflix or DSTV stream?
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etv and many of the radio stations are examples of how this can be done.
 
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