SABC
 |
|
| Type | Terrestrial television and radio broadcast network |
|---|---|
| Country | South Africa |
| Availability | South Africa Botswana Lesotho Mozambique Namibia Zimbabwe Swaziland |
| Founded | 1936 by the Government of South Africa |
| Slogan | "This is your SABC." "Vuka Sizwe!" (Nation Arise!) |
|
Broadcast area
|
South Africa |
| Owner | Government of South Africa |
|
Key people
|
Ben Ngubane (Chairman) Solly Mokoetle (CEO) |
|
Launch date
|
1936 (radio) 1976 (television) |
| 16:9 | |
|
Television
|
SABC 1 |
|
Television
|
SABC 2 |
|
Television
|
SABC 3 |
|
Official website
|
www.sabc.co.za |
The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) is the state broadcaster in South Africa, and provides 19 radio stations (AM/FM) as well as 4 television broadcasts to the general public.
It was also known officially in Afrikaans as Suid-Afrikaanse Uitsaaikorporasie (SAUK), but this term is now only used by the SABC when referring to the Corporation in the spoken word on SABC2's Afrikaans TV news and on the Afrikaans radio station Radio Sonder Grense. However, the Afrikaans newscasts on SABC2 use "SABC Nuus" instead of "SAUK Nuus". The term is still used by other Afrikaans language media.
Opposition politicians and civil society have often levelled criticism at the SABC, accusing it of being mouthpiece for the ruling African National Congress; during apartheid it was accused of playing the same role for the previous National Party government.
Radio broadcasting began in South Africa in 1923, under the auspices of South African Railways, before three radio services were licensed, the Association of Scientific and Technical Societies (AS&TS) in Johannesburg, the Cape Peninsular Publicity Association in Cape Town and the Durban Corporation, which began broadcasting in 1924.
These were then merged into the African Broadcasting Company in 1927, owned by I W Schlesinger, a wealthy businessman, but in 1936, these were sold to the SABC, established that year through an Act of Parliament. The SABC took over the African Broadcasting Company's staff and assets. It maintained a state monopoly on radio until the launch of Radio 702 in 1980. Although the subscription-funded television service M-Net was launched in 1986, the SABC had a monopoly on free-to-air television until the launch of e.tv in 1998.
During National Party rule from 1948 onwards, it came under increasing criticism and accusations of being biased towards the then ruling party. At one time most of its senior management were members of the Broederbond, the Afrikaner secret society and later drawn from institutions like Stellenbosch University.
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Wikipedia