SABC makes Afrikaans U-turn
The SABC has admitted it made mistakes in reshuffling and reducing Afrikaans content over the last three years without conducting thorough research on the potential impact.
Since 2023, the broadcaster has cut at least two decades-old Afrikaans shows — popular daily soap 7de Laan and actuality series Fokus — from SABC 2.
In addition, it moved all its remaining Afrikaans programming to S3 (formerly SABC 3), which has substantially lower viewership and advertiser appeal.
That included shifting the Afrikaans news bulletin from 18:30 on SABC 2 to 20:30 on S3. That move was widely criticised by Afrikaans viewers, many of whom said they were already in bed by that time.
The broadcaster’s complete omission of the bulletin over the weekend of 5 and 6 April 2025 caused an uproar.
While it blamed the incident on a scheduling error, insiders at the broadcaster told veteran broadcasting journalist Thinus Ferreira that the removal was deliberate and had just come earlier than planned.
In a more recent interview with Ferreira, SABC platforms head David Makubyane acknowledged the changes had prompted significant backlash from Afrikaans viewers.
“As the SABC, we realised we must create new Afrikaans content,” he said. “The complaints we received, the letters — we have listened to our viewers.”
Makubyane confirmed that the broadcaster would permanently return the Afrikaans news bulletin to its regular 18:30 slot, seven days a week, and would produce new Afrikaans content.
The first will be the telenovella Paradys, set in a fictional coloured (mixed-race) community based on working-class Johannesburg communities like Eldorado Park and Westbury.
It seems to be the SABC’s answer to kykNET series like Suidooster and Skemergrond. Makubyane said that Paradys would have broader appeal, including targeting people who could not understand Afrikaans.
The SABC’s Afrikaans strategy confused many industry insiders, who warned that the Afrikaans audience was still attractive to advertisers.
The broadcasters’ own research showed that Afrikaans pay-TV channel kykNET was the country’s most valuable for advertisers.
No market research justifying changes
In June 2025, SABC Afrikaans TV news bulletin editor Daniëlle Wass admitted in an interview on RSG that the changes were not based on any market research.
“It was an expensive trial-and-error to see the bulletins so up and down,” Wass said. “Perhaps we should have looked at this more.”
“I think the lack of research failed us in being able to know who our viewers are, what our viewers want, and what they are comfortable with.”
The broadcaster previously criticised “broad assumptions” that changes to its Afrikaans programming had negatively impacted its own advertising revenue.
SABC communications head Mmoni Ngubane maintained the broadcaster continued to record positive results in several areas of its Afrikaans portfolio.
“The Corporation continues to invest in a broader content and scheduling strategy aimed at strengthening its language offering, including Afrikaans,” Ngubane said.
However, it would not share any revenue information for Afrikaans channels and programming to disprove claims in news reports that it had lost millions of rands because of the changes.
U-turn welcomed, but damage is done
AfriForum, among the most vocal critics of the SABC’s Afrikaans strategy, has welcomed the broadcaster’s U-turn.
However, it wants someone to be held accountable for the impact the rescheduling had on the SABC’s viewership.
In this regard, AfriForum has submitted a formal request to the SABC under the Promotion of Access to Information Act (Paia) for data on Afrikaans programming viewership.
“The information has not been received yet, but it is to be expected that the figures would have to be dramatic to result in this turnaround,” AfriForum said.
Its head of cultural affairs, Alana Bailey, believes the recent changes prove that the organisation and industry experts’ warnings were well-founded.
“Unfortunately, many viewers are now accustomed to finding their news and entertainment elsewhere, and advertisers have followed them,” Bailey said.
“The phasing out of Afrikaans programming has also had a negative impact on the careers of many in the industry and has resulted in an exodus of talent.”
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