The industry was also characterised by skills shortages relating to script development and packaging, and tended to focus on content development activities located in urban centres, Nyanda said in a speech prepared for delivery at the Local and Digital Content Summit in Johannesburg.<\/p>\n
“Some provinces such as Limpopo and Mpumalanga, which we all know possess rich cultural content, do not feature significantly in our broadcasting industry,” he said.<\/p>\n
“It is therefore, the aim of this summit to discuss matters of this nature and arrive at a productive way forward.”<\/p>\n
Also to be discussed during the summit are issues relating to transformation and diversity in the industry, and empowerment.<\/p>\n
Nyanda said these issues were critical in unlocking the potential of the local content industry in this country — both for economic and social reasons.<\/p>\n
Building a competitive local content industry was not the sole responsibility of government and the regulator, but was collaborative and required active participation from society, he said.<\/p>\n
“Our responsibility as government is to continue with the creation of an enabling environment to ensure market certainty by bringing about investment for the industry to thrive.”<\/p>\n
He also spoke of the importance of partnering with SA Development Community neighbours to strengthen the country’s local content industry.<\/p>\n
“This is critical for creating a borderless content market with multiple licensing opportunities for our local content creators. “<\/p>\n