{"id":627559,"date":"2026-02-04T14:04:29","date_gmt":"2026-02-04T12:04:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=627559"},"modified":"2026-02-04T14:33:29","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T12:33:29","slug":"sabc-makes-afrikaans-u-turn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/broadcasting\/627559-sabc-makes-afrikaans-u-turn.html","title":{"rendered":"SABC makes Afrikaans U-turn"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since 2023, the broadcaster has cut at least two decades-old Afrikaans shows \u2014 popular daily soap 7de Laan<\/em> and actuality series Fokus<\/em> \u2014 from SABC 2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition, it moved all its remaining Afrikaans programming to S3 (formerly SABC 3), which has substantially lower viewership and advertiser appeal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The broadcaster’s complete omission of the bulletin over the weekend of 5 and 6 April 2025 caused an uproar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While it blamed the incident on a scheduling error, insiders at the broadcaster told veteran broadcasting journalist Thinus Ferreira that the removal was deliberate<\/a> and had just come earlier than planned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a more recent interview with Ferreira<\/a>, SABC platforms head David Makubyane acknowledged the changes had prompted significant backlash from Afrikaans viewers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“As the SABC, we realised we must create new Afrikaans content,” he said. “The complaints we received, the letters \u2014 we have listened to our viewers.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first will be the telenovella Paradys<\/em>, set in a fictional coloured (mixed-race) community based on working-class Johannesburg communities like Eldorado Park and Westbury.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It seems to be the SABC’s answer to kykNET series like Suidooster<\/em> and Skemergrond<\/em>. Makubyane said that Paradys<\/em> would have broader appeal, including targeting people who could not understand Afrikaans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The SABC’s Afrikaans strategy confused many industry insiders, who warned that the Afrikaans audience was still attractive to advertisers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The broadcasters’ own research showed that Afrikaans pay-TV channel kykNET was the country’s most valuable for advertisers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No market research justifying changes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
David Makubyane, SABC Head of Platforms<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In June 2025, SABC Afrikaans TV news bulletin editor Dani\u00eblle Wass admitted in an interview on RSG that the changes were not based on any market research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“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.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“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.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The broadcaster previously criticised<\/a> “broad assumptions” that changes to its Afrikaans programming had negatively impacted its own advertising revenue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SABC communications head Mmoni Ngubane maintained the broadcaster continued to record positive results in several areas of its Afrikaans portfolio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The Corporation continues to invest in a broader content and scheduling strategy aimed at strengthening its language offering, including Afrikaans,” Ngubane said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

U-turn welcomed, but damage is done<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Alana Bailey, AfriForum Head of Cultural Affairs<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

AfriForum, among the most vocal critics of the SABC’s Afrikaans strategy, has welcomed the broadcaster’s U-turn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, it wants someone to be held accountable for the impact the rescheduling had on the SABC’s viewership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Its head of cultural affairs, Alana Bailey, believes the recent changes prove that the organisation and industry experts’ warnings were well-founded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Unfortunately, many viewers are now accustomed to finding their news and entertainment elsewhere, and advertisers have followed them,” Bailey said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“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.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A senior executive has admitted the broadcaster made mistakes with its sweeping Afrikaans programming changes, but AfriForum wants more information about how the decisions were taken without proper market research. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":341042,"featured_media":501237,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[25047,25823,103130,103132,103131,28185,103122,103129,361,34671,103123,3406],"class_list":["post-627559","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-broadcasting","tag-7de-laan","tag-afrikaans","tag-afrikaans-programming","tag-afrikaans-series","tag-afrikaans-tv","tag-alana-bailey","tag-david-makubyane","tag-paradys","tag-sabc","tag-sabc-2","tag-sabc-3-s3","tag-thinus-ferreira"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/627559"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/341042"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=627559"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/627559\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":627852,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/627559\/revisions\/627852"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/501237"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=627559"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=627559"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=627559"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}