A job for the well dressed
The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) has always been a plaything of politicians from whichever ruling party had its snout in the public purse. Which basically boils down to the National Party, the party that brought the world Apartheid, and now the African National Congress, which brought the world the fastest expanding waistlines ever witnessed.
As is their want, the politicos and their friends and family are making whoopee over at the SABC. So much so that this sorry propagandist is in debt to the tune of millions of dollars after spending freely on unwanted, unnecessary and worthless foreign bureaus. And millions on programming that remains undisturbed in the original wrapping. Not to mention the lavish attention the board and management members pay on themselves. It’s a shattering embarrassment being spotted among the local hoi polloi, rather than on an expensive first-class-all-the-way overseas junket.
All this while they are destroying an entire industry by not paying the production houses for the content they commissioned. While they stuff caviar and crayfish down their fat throats, the organisation in their care is being destroyed and thousands of people are losing their jobs through their gross incompetence and mismanagement.
Don’t take my word for it: former SABC board chair Kanyisiwe Mkonza admitted that she “sucks as a leader”. But of course that didn’t stop this creature from accepting the position from her political sponsors. After all, a girl’s got to scoop up the gravy wherever she finds it.
And then…..
Pansy - well dressed
Yes I admit, even I was surprised. But it does show the clarity of mind, the single-minded pursuit of the dream that sets SABC board members apart. They are the stuff of legend.
Because, then – during the parliamentary hearing where these highly dysfunctional, ultimately greedy and self-serving idiots were being grilled – the gloriously named Pansy Tiakulu spoke her mind:
Yesterday’s proceedings ended with Pansy Tlakula asking if she and other members of the board were entitled to a clothing allowance, since the committee had requested that they attend today’s hearings.
Her request, which was not a joke, was politely dismissed by Ismael Vadi, the chair of the portfolio committee on communication.
Yes, true.
Zapiro puppet program pleases
I watched the Zapiro “Z-News” puppet program last night. It was roughly produced, some of the voices fell short and the puppetry was rudimentary. But it is a pilot, and there is nothing that proper funding won’t fix.
There are some really funny bits: Thabo singing “I Will Survive” on Idols (“…I will survive, I will survive, … and so on and stuff like that,..”) , Zacob Zuma also on Idols doing a double-header (as it were) singing both “De la Rey” (with shower-head affixed) and “Umshini wam”. The segment with Manto Tshabala performing an operation with beetroot, lemon and garlic is hilarious.
The voices for both Thabo and Jacob are excellent. Helen Zille’s is poor. But generally I enjoyed it and found its good bits far outweighed the poor. Watch it, it’s fun.
This of course follows the cancellation of the show by the SABC on the on the grounds that “South African viewers are not ready for it”. The SABC then went on to cancel a documentary on political satire in South Africa, not once but twice. Luckily, the documentary fell into the hands of the Mail & Guardian, and you can watch it here.
South Africa suffers from a extreme dearth of political satire. It also suffers from a stifling political correctness that causes any criticism of the ANC to attract vicious denunciation. Critics are regularly dubbed counter-revolutionaries, colonialists, cultural imperialists and, the favourite, racists. And given the apartheid history of the country, the racist tag is something that most “white” people want to avoid.
This political correctness is self-reinforcing: the more political criticism and satire is suppressed, the more intolerant the general ANC defender becomes. To the point where it appears that no TV channel will carry political satire. This is very dangerous to the future of democracy in South Africa.
The rise of the comedian in political commentary in the US, has resulted in the majority of young people getting most of their political news and analysis from channels such as Comedy Central. Jon Steward is now a major political force, overshadowing political analysis in the traditional media.
Young people in South Africa need to see that it’s okay to laugh at and criticise their leaders. Only by exposing them to popular political satire will this stultifying political correctness be broken down.
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