With the rise of the Zuma era, the SABC board has decided to ditch Snuki Zikalala as head of news. At the same time, the board itself faces the strong likelihood of being ditched. Parliament has been itching to oust it ever since Thabo Mbeki was toppled from the ANC.
The board members were controversially appointed by Mbeki despite his loss of power within the party, something that strongly angered the triumphant Zuma-ites.
Supercharging their unhappiness was the particular genesis of the board even before the appointments came through. The ruling party’s MPs had themselves agreed to change their initial list of names that went forward for Mbeki’s signature. That was back in the day when his supporters still ran party headquarters. Despite the fact that the MPs, not Luthuli House, had interviewed the candidates, they complied with preferences proclaimed from afar.
Unfortunately, the MPs’ resentment may well been less about parliamentary integrity being bypassed, than at the pro-Mbeki colours of the people who initiated this. At any rate, it was this backdrop of intervention that sent their anger over boiling point when the then-president still ignored the subsequent change in political forces and proceeded to appoint the board.
Since then, most members of this board have clung doggedly onto office despite widespread criticism. As a whole, the board has also stuck by Zikalala despite strong criticism of him from, amongst others, the pro-Zuma people.
When the news chief’s contract expired last month, it might have been expected that this would be renewed, thereby securing his employment as a legacy inheritance for a future board.
Alternatively, there was the option of keeping Zikalala on for a few months until the future of the board itself was resolved, and in this way allowing a likely new board the space to choose his successor.
Instead, by deciding to let the man go, the question arises as to whether the incumbent board is now making a gesture to the Zuma-led Parliament in the hope of saving its own skin. An alternative question is whether they want to install a candidate whom a successor board might find more difficult to dislodge than the controversial Zikalala.
Less cynically, it may be that the board has straight-forwardly deemed that to change negative perceptions about SABC news, the service needs a new face at the helm. Ironically, this motivation would be at a time when Zikalala has successfully delivered election coverage judged as fair and non-partisan by the independent Media Monitoring Africa. Even so, the board may have calculated that the SABC not only has to be impartial — it must also be seen to be as such.
But whatever the board’s thinking, its challenge is that the politicisation of the SABC will make it very difficult to achieve the goal of generalised credibility, whoever is chosen to replace Zikalala.
Certainly, the country’s politicians are on the same page that the broadcaster serves every other party — but their own. It’s unlikely they’ll ever all be happy. So the first requirement of a new incumbent will be to have a super-thick skin.
Still, not many people can take on the logistics of running such a vast and dispersed editorial team, which has to create an entirely new (and controversial) commodity several times a day. (Not forgetting about 13 languages and more than 30 platforms, including websites and telephone audio services).
There’s also a need for a newcomer not just to maintain the SABC’s profile and competitive appeal nationally, but also safeguard and enhance the international reputation of the SABC as a public broadcaster where its sister media elsewhere in Africa are crude government megaphones.
To do the job successfully will take at least the following core competencies:
1. Stature — the successful candidate needs to command widespread respect to hold to an independent stance and avoid bullying by politicians. The person also needs to know, backwards, the SABC legal mandate and editorial policies in order to derive clear direction — and protection — from these documents.
2. Strategic acumen — the incoming head of news has to be sensitive to multi-lingualism and to multi-media. The SABC currently lags behind institutions like the BBC in exploiting web and cellphone platforms that are essential in an age of convergence and content proliferation.
3. Journalistic appreciation — there needs to be a fine understanding of the distinctiveness of public service journalism. That means journalism that is in the public interest, and not simply content that is merely interesting to the public. However it also means avoiding mind-numbing worthiness. What’s also critical is to go beyond providing a soapbox to which the range of voices have access. The SABC also has to build up its capacity to become a “factor” in public discourse. That means journalists adding real value to stories — for instance, through independent scrutiny and strong cross-questioning, and through enriching stories with well-researched information. Deep expertise in the newsroom needs nurturing — such as developing specialist teams around science, culture, tech, policy, environment, health and economics. Training systems and programmes have to be prioritised, and continuously evaluated and updated.
4. People-management skills are required in a 360-degree ambit. Relations with the SABC CEO have to be managed — that portfolio is still defined as “editor in chief”. Relations with the board constitute a further need to manage “upwards”. Leading the various platform editors and specialist editors requires excellent skills in managing “downwards”. Managing “laterally” is needed in relation to the SABC Content Hub (which handles non-news programming), and as regards advertising and marketing. Another vital realm that needs managing is the wider public. The new head of news should operate an ombuds service that handles complaints and also take advice from an external advisory editorial panel.
5. Business skills — the ability to plan and administer budgets is vital, especially given the SABC’s financial crisis. More and better output needs to be generated from the SABC’s extensive news resources.
A tall order, admittedly. But it’s hard to see how any person can make a go of the post if he or she is lacking in any of these five areas.
On the other hand, if the ideal candidate can’t be found, the next best would be a person whose strengths include knowing own weaknesses — and being able to complement the gaps with appropriate deputies.
Failing this, it wouldn’t be far-fetched that Snuki gets brought back — with a mission to address criticisms in a way that does change perceptions.
we are prepared to take arms and die for dali mpofu…where’s he?
please, bring the advocate back.
now that snooky is gone, i believe his remains arent gonna continiue feeding us with preconceived mindnumbing analysis of st mbeki’s aide, prince mashele,and prof pityana’s string-puppet, shadrack gutto.
we’re fed up. change is what we now need.
btw what’s up with safm audio streaming? we can no longer listen on line..
Why can’t a white person do Snuki’s job?
Is disappointed with the treatment Dr Snuki Zikalala has received despite his hard work which revolutionalised the SABC News from what it used to be.
I remember when he first joined SABC there was a lot of negative talk about his appointment
“The post was advertised and I went through an interviewing process about three weeks ago. I was chosen on merit, not because I’m an ANC lackey.”
Current and former employees who worked under Zikalala described his management style as “dictatorial” and said signs were that several resignations would be tendered as a result. Democratic Alliance communications spokesman Dene Smuts described Zikalala’s previous tenure at the SABC as “the lowest point in its post-1994 corporate life”. Veteran journalist and editor Allister Sparks said Zikalala’s appointment was a “retrogressive step” that harked back to the days when the SABC was under apartheid control.
Everyone was on his case not expecting him to perform but instead he disappointed them and changed what used to be Johannesburg News to South African news. He deployed journalists all over South Africa ensuring that they cover the real South African stories directly on the ground and not through telephones interviews with a snap shot (picture) of the interviewee on the back ground. There was a time when the weather channel was reported only in English and Afrikaans if reported in IsiXhosa it would be the same every day i.e. a voice over (no face) saying “kuzawuthi qgwaqgwa ngamafu” every day…
highs and lows or the speed of the wind etc.
He went further to set up bureaus around Africa and deployed journalists to cover those stories instead of buying them from CNN channels (you’d remember back in the days we used to have an over night CNN channel instead of SABC Africa now SABC International). International stories (including Africa) were sourced (at a price) I mean we would buy a story on Zimbabwe from CNN even though it was just next door to us.
Upon closer scrutiny it doesn’t take a genius to see that he had a plan with timelines and I’m sure part of it included having SABC International available as a subscription channel throughout the world (not just SA) thus ensuring that people abroad get the real stories from the people who know and have or are experiencing it rather than hearing it from CNN or BBC etc. which often portrayed Africa as the dark continent full of war, poverty, diseases and nothing positive.
It is this plan that the South African Broadcasting Channel failed to consider when deciding on his contract, it is this change that the media failed to report on when reflecting on his tenure at SABC.
Like Jacob Zuma people (academics and analysts especially) judged him by his qualifications i.e. where he obtained his Doctorate rather than on delivery.
Fare you well Dr Zikalala (some have noted your great contribution to SABC if not SA).
I hope your departure will
Zikalala was Mbeki’s puppet,he turned the SABC to Mbeki’s mouthpiece.
A case at the top of my head was when he interviewed Thabo Mbeki for 3hrs live on all SABC radio stations in the week leading to the Polokwane Conference.It was weard that he did not offer the same opportunity to JZ who was going to stand against Mbeki at that Conference.
‘if a person is deployed from outside the ANC is this when he’s only regarded as independent?’-asked Mac Maharaj.
You’re right, Sipho, Snuki did some good things, but the internationalisation strategy wasn’t one of them. While the idea of becoming less reliant on Western news agencies for coverage of the developing world is laudable, a lot of money was wasted in bureaus in places such as Jamaica and on an international channel which reaches a very small audience. The return for the outlay of many millions was not impressive.
Sipho
“There was a time when the weather channel was reported only in English and Afrikaans if reported in IsiXhosa it would be the same every day i.e. a voice over (no face) saying “kuzawuthi qgwaqgwa ngamafu” every day…”
so now ‘likhuph’umkhovu etsheni’..