For those expecting to turn on their TVs to watch the Springboks take on England on Saturday, it must have been a surprise to see Superman instead.
But that’s what happened to people across the country as they tuned in to watch SABC 2’s delayed broadcast of the match on Saturday as advertised by the national broadcaster.
Legions of DSTV-deprived rugby fans took to the internet to voice their anger at SABC’s “betrayal”.
“#SABC WTF? You advertise the rugby for 6.30pm but you run Smallville? What’s going on?” Daniel Marcus tweeted on Sunday.
Nyakallo Lephoto also chirped in on the social networking website: “So SABC can’t show rugby but they show the Diamond Jubilee?”
Capes, spandex suits and kryptonite replaced mauls and rucks. Morne Steyn made way for Lex Luther in an interesting substitution that would see the opening five minutes of Smallville attract a new, albeit angry, audience.
One disgruntled viewer said she was already “miffed” by RSG’s cancellation of their live radio commentary of the Test match.
“They apologised and that was all,” she told the Cape Argus on Sunday.
But when she came home the TV set offered little consolation as it bombarded her with the opening theme and super-powered teenage-angst of Smallville.
“Usually I would go out and watch the game but I didn't have time,” she said.
Kaiser Kganyago, the SABC’s spokesman, said the delayed broadcast was cancelled because SABC were unable to negotiate with SuperSport for the rights to show it. He said events would often be placed in the TV guide to reserve the airspace, even when the rights to broadcast them were still being negotiated. He said SABC remained “hopeful” that they could obtain the rights to broadcast the last two matches of the series. – Cadet News Agency