Johannesburg - The South African media was hellbent on “setting an agenda” to destabilise the public broadcaster, SABC chief operating officer Hlaudi Motsoeneng said Tuesday.
“The media, especially print, seems to have an agenda against the SABC. Everything that happens here is attributed to one man, Hlaudi… all the time. Meanwhile there are three other directors in this organisation. What do you want from us? Leave Hlaudi alone,” Motsoeneng told reporters at a media briefing at the SA Broadcasting Corporation head office in Johannesburg.
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In the wake of several of the broadcaster’s journalists alleging editorial interference and refusing to adhere to an instruction to not cover protests, Motsoeneng denied news censorship. He insisted he was not in charge of SABC newsrooms.
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“There are editors in newsrooms who give direction to news. I am not in charge. There are editors who work with journalists. My job is to make sure that they do their work and that resources are there for them to execute their work.”
Only a few people “were coughing” within the SABC, and would not infect the rest, said Motsoeneng.
“There is no so-called revolt in this organisation. We as management and the board have done well for the SABC. Employees here are happy and working. When you’re an employee here you adhere to the policies and its instructions. If you cannot do that then its a pity…you can move before we come to you because we will deal with you decisively,” he said.
SABC board chairman Mbulaheni Maguvhe announced the appointment of chief financial officer James Laguma as acting chief executive officer. Laguma’s previous position would be filled by Audrey Raphela while Simon Tebele would serve as head of news. Laguma was appointed after Jimmi Matthews resigned in protest on Monday, criticising the way the public broadcaster was being run.
In the resignation letter he posted on Twitter, Matthews said what was happening at the SABC was wrong and that he could no longer be a part of it.
SABC journalist Lukhanyo Calata came out on Monday, criticising his employers. He said his employers had implemented news censorship, something for which freedom fighters like his father – Fort Calata of the Craddock Four – had not died for.
Tebele said Calata’s grieviences would be dealt with internally.
“As we all know, every newsroom has its internal processes. We cannot discuss such matters here in his absence. Such matters are dealt with according to internal policies,” the newly appointed Tebele said.
Members of the opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) picketed outside the SABC offices on Tuesday, decrying Motsoeneng’s management style and demanding that he resign immediately.
The SA Communist Party (SACP) has planned protests at the SABC next week to demand that the public broadcaster reverse its “apartheid and draconian-styled censorship of protests”.
African News Agency