Johanensburg - SABC television channels were undergoing an overhaul which had nothing to do with Afrikaans language programmes as reported, the public broadcaster said on Tuesday.
“The changes happening have nothing to do with Afrikaans. Why is everyone concerned with Afrikaans? People are turning the changes into an Afrikaans issue,” said spokesman Kaizer Kganyago.
New television soapies and other programming had been introduced, and the changes were across channels and time schedules, he said.
“The SABC is not doing away with Afrikaans programming... we believe in granting all languages a platform across our television channels. The SABC subscribes to the Broadcasting Act to ensure all languages are treated equally.”
On Tuesday, Beeld newspaper reported that the SABC was moving the prime-time Afrikaans programmes from SABC2 to SABC3.
There were no Afrikaans news bulletins during the Fifa Soccer World Cup, which the SABC indicated was a temporary arrangement until the soccer tournament ended.
Most areas in the Northern Cape, Free State, the Eastern Cape and the Western Cape had no access to SABC3 due to poor signals, and would not be able to view the Afrikaans news bulletin, the publication reported.
Kganyago said he had yet to hear a complaint about viewers in the four provinces not being able to view popular soapie “Isidingo”, which is aired on SABC3.
“The complaint about access is irrelevant. The SABC has nothing to do with connectivity. The SABC goes as far as using money from its coffers to buy low-power transmitters for viewers who cannot access an SABC channel in some areas,” he said.
Sapa