LL-L "Language education" 2008.01.15 (07) [E]

[Lowlands-L List]

L O W L A N D S - L  -  14 January 2008 - Volume 07
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From: Marcel Bas <roepstem at hotmail.com>
Subject: LL-L "Language education" 2008.01.15 (06) [E]

Hi Elsie,

That's a pity. Not that I want the SABC to turn into an all-Afrikaans
corporation, but when I visited the studios a few times last year, I used to
visit an exhibition there that showed the history of the SABC (formerly
SAUK). These pioneers were all Afrikaans people. Now even the Afrikaans name
SAUK has been erased and only the English version SABC remains.

I heard from someone who works at SABC Television (the high building in
Auckland Park) that managers who were hired before the great changes in the
company are being ousted or that their work is being made impossible,
because they would represent the 'old order'. In stead, people from outside,
who know nothing of editing, are made managers of editing departments. They
have no affinity with the branch either, but they happen to have the right
connections and party affiliations... Meanwhile, every now and then a whole
team quits their jobs because they can't go on working like this. One
can imagine the know-how drain that's currently going on. I wonder if this
has had any consequences for the quality of programmes.

A good strategy is: stop watching SA television, or get yourself a satellite
dish...

Marcel.

Marcel, Hermann Giliomee shows that Afrikaans on SABC TV has been cut to 5%
in total. I have not seen any Afrikaans children programmes on public TV.


The irony, of course, according to Giliomee, is that Afrikaans speakers tend
to pay their TV licences. (Heck, I was hounded for years to pay my husband's
TV licence and after the SABC lawyers threatened the deceased with a *sub
poena*, I promised to arrange for a séance.)
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