Johannesburg - The Communication Workers Union (CWU) says the hype around the SABC and its boss Hlaudi Motsoeneng is because he has instituted a 90% local content directive.
CWU general secretary Aubrey Tshabalala said it was “hypocritical” of some sections of media to be in the spotlight when their owners were “white monopoly capital”. CWU said it had openly criticised the COO (Hlaudi Motsoeneng) of the SABC even at the time when everyone was quiet during his live broadcast of his hearing.
“However we find it strange that he has now become a target of everyone who now wants to get airtime on media and get a public audience,” he said.
While the union chose not to criticise Hlaudi, it said it was opposed to censorship and would continue to fight for freedom of the press.
“We opposed a decision to censor news, in particular the latest announced on public protests and violence.”
Tshabalala said the CWU was actively involved in programmes that sought to defend and promote free press and secure quality jobs in media.
The CWU said the SABC management needed to be approached on the issue of it censoring service delivery protests. However it did not agree with airing scenes of the burning of schools and public properties.
Labour Bureau