The SABC's chief operating officer (COO) Hlaudi Motsoeneng says MultiChoice must carry the public as he again lashed out at print media in South Africa as being "misleading" about the public broadcaster and saying people need to "applaud the SABC" because "there is money at the SABC".
The controversial and famously matricless Hlaudi Motsoeneng is currently mired in a protracted court case following the Public
Protector's report from February 2014 ordering him to be suspended, as well as
the Western Cape High Court which ruled twice that the SABC suspend him and start a
disciplinary hearing immediately. Hlaudi Motsoeneng is appealing the decision.
The caustic and finger-waving Hlaudi Motsoeneng again took to the
stage at The New Age breakfast
briefing about digital terrestrial television (DTT) migration on Monday in
Sandton, once again making utterances that had those attending laughing awkwardly
and uncomfortably throughout when he spoke, while some shook their heads in
disbelief and one guest was caught saying "wow".
The SABC's newsly appointed CE) Frans Matlala attended The New Age breakfast briefing but sat quietly in the audience and didn't speak as Hlaudi Motsoeneng unleashed his zingers.
Hlaudi Motsoeneng said SABC broadcasts are
not disrupted by rain fade like another broadcaster and that MultiChoice must
make sure that the pay-TV operator "sustains" the SABC.
Hlaudi Motsoeneng also publicly slammed the SABC's former
COO, Solly Mokoetle, who was a panelist next to him on the stage – twice – as well
as South African newspapers who he claims are "misleading" South Africans about
the SABC and it's financial state because they are in competition with the
public broadcaster.
Hlaudi Motsoeneng said the SABC's own
audience is "very happy with the SABC".
'MultiChoice must
make sure it sustains SABC employees'
"People are talking about another small
broadcaster somewhere, they are having the best technology," said Hlaudi Motsoeneng.
"Actually they don't have better technology
than SABC. Because we have the HD. Our own outside broadcast vans. They are in
HD. But in our studio we have what we call analogue."
"If you compare us and them, when it's rains,
it's a mess for them. We are still on the terrestrial, we're doing very well."
"With MultiChoice, it's partnership. We have
what is called 'must-carry'. It is a regulations from Icasa, not from SABC.
Must-carry means the SABC channels they must be carried by pay-TV. Not MultiChoice.
All pay-TV. You know you have another pay-TV. They carry those channels of the
SABC. But when people talk, they about MultiChoice."
"We approached MultiChoice. We said to
MultiChoice: 'You need to contribute to the public. Because it can't be public
for free. What is your contribution to the public?' They said no but the law
says we must carry you. I said to them: 'Carry the public".
"That MultiChoice partnership is to also to
make sure that we sustain employees within the organisation [SABC], we create
jobs, which we have already done within the organisation," said Hlaudi Motsoeneng.
Better than Solly
"We have outdone Solly Mokoetle here. From
performance. As current leadership of the organisation. Because they could not
raise any funds to sustain that organisation. He was the COO of the SABC. When
we took over, SABC is sustainable today," said Hlaudi Motsoeneng in a sideswipe to Solly Mokoetle sitting next to him who is now the head of South Africa's DTT
programme.
'Our own audience are
very happy'
Hlaudi Motsoeneng again publicly slammed
South African newspaper journalism as he's done several times this year,
speaking about the SABC's relationship with The
New Age newspaper.
"Our own audience are very happy," said Hlaudi Motsoeneng. "Our audience they have never complain about the relationship
between us and MultiChoice, and between New
Age. Because it is a good relationship."
"We share the same vision with New Age. And I said to them: 'The day
you portray South Africa as bad, that day SABC withdraw from this relationship."
"We Africans, we undermine ourselves. When
you go to other countries, where there's BBC. Just check how they report about
their country. They report very good about their country."
"We Africans, our mindset, we need to work on
our mindset to be African mindset."
"Some people they always make this noise,
this hullabaloo, about the SABC. We always have our own consultation with our
own audience. Actually they are more than happy," said Hlaudi Motsoeneng.
'We need to applaud
SABC'
"We need to applaud SABC," said Hlaudi
Motsoeneng. "I need to deal with this notion that SABC is not sustainable
financially. The boxing back, everything is back that people have been crying
about. That shows that SABC is doing better."
"My former COO here, he knows that. The SABC
could never do that but now we are able to do that."
Hlaudi Motsoeneng said "You choose in life.
Partnership is all about choosing. You can't go and choose someone who is
collapsing tomorrow and you want to do business with that. I need more business
from MultiChoice, to invest so that we can empower people."
"There was no money at the SABC. There is
money at the SABC. Don't take what you are reading at the newspaper because they
mislead because they are competing with SABC," said Hlaudi Motsoeneng.
