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ABSTRACT
In 2012, The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) Education launched 90 Plein Street, an entertainment education (EE) television series whose mission was to offer education in democracy. The series followed in the footsteps of the highly successful EE predecessors like Yizo Yizo and Soul City which delivered education through highly compelling drama format based on raw South African social realism. While most of the seasons of this drama followed the SABC’s tried and tested approach to educational television, the last season, which was commissioned in the months preceding the 2017 ANC Elective Conference, bore very close resemblance to the political campaign themes of the faction associated with former President Jacob Zuma. Through the former president’s wife, the faction sought to create an alternative avenue for Zuma to continue access to state resources and maintain his influence. This article seeks to critically assess this state-funded drama to answer the question of whether and in what ways themes favourable to forces of “state capture” were encoded in the series. The article seeks to explore the fine line between educational television and political interest by paying attention to discursive and social practices that form the important context within which the drama was produced and broadcast.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Notes
1 Television Audience Measurement System (TAMS) is a system endorsed by the South African Audience Research Foundation (SAARF) as the official currency of audience measurement in South African television.
2 Dr. Ben Ngubane is the controversial former board chairperson of the SABC and Eskom. During his tenure, five of SABC board members resigned in protest over his unilateral decisions over the SABC’s affairs (Le Cordeur Citation2017). He has also been named in the State Capture Enquiry as having favoured the Gupta family in doing business with Eskom.
3 Professor Maguvhe resigned as the SABC board chairperson after Parliamentary Enquiry into the SABC Board’s Fitness to Hold Office recommended that the entire Board of the SABC be dissolved and replaced by an interim one his appearance before the (Afrika Citation2020, 172).
4 Motsoeneng’s sunshine journalism policy was met with resistance from some journalists within the SABC. Popularly known as The SABC8, these journalists were fired en masse, but were later rehired after the court interdicted the implementation of Motsoeneng’s “unlawful” editorial policy (Herman Citation2016).
5 The MKMVA is a faction of veterans of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the military wing of the ANC. The group has been vocal in support of President Jacob Zuma (Heinecken and Bwalya Citation2013, 31).
6 The “Premier League” is a popular name given to an informal political coalition of the premiers of the provinces of Free State (Ace Magashule), North West (Supra Mahumapelo) and Mpumalanga (David Mabuza) – who were seen as a strong supporters of the NDZ campaign (Jika, Smit, and Kiewit Citation2019).
7 The Marikana Massacre refers to an incident in which the police opened fire on striking mineworkers on 26 August 2012, killing 34. At the same time as being deputy president, Ramaphosa was an executive and shareholder for mining company, Lonmin (Head Citation2017c).
8 Motsoeneng and Muthambi joined forces to appeal the judgement of the High Court that sought to enforce the recommendations of the Public Protector to have Hlaudi Motsoeneng suspended and disciplined following his irrational and unlawful appointment as the SABC’s COO (The DA vs. Motsoeneng, Citation2015). Ben Ngubane, the former chairperson of the SABC Board was instrumental in the appointment of Motsoeneng. He argued that Motsoeneng’s lack of qualifications because of his sterling track record (Omarjee Citation2019).
9 The journalists popularly known as The SABC8 were Vuyo Mvoko, Thandeka Gqubule, Suna Venter, Krivani Pillay, Lukhanyo Calata, Foeta Krige, Jacques Steenkamp and Busisiwe Ntuli. These journalists openly challenged Hlaudi Motsoeneng’s sunshine journalism at the SABC (Madisa Citation2019).
10 Interview with the SABC’s commissioning office (6 August 2019). This interview as conducted in anonymity to protect the identity of the interviewee.
11 Majakaneng is a real community set around the platinum and chrome mining industries of the North West Province. It is close to Marikana which is best known for a wage strike that resulted in 34 miners killed after a clash with the police.