*CWU CONGRATULATES THE SABC AND SENTECH * * *
*28 August 2013* * * The Communication Workers Union (CWU) congratulates the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) and Signal distributor (Sentech) on the ground breaking agreement to have SABC channels on free-to-air basis on the Sentech Universal Access Direct to Home Satellite platform, which will be launched by the end of September 2013. This agreement means that SABC will provide all three channels (SABC 1, 2 and 3); including the 24hour news channel that is currently airing on DSTV (Multichoice Platform). We are excited to note that SABC will add two more channels, which are currently under development, as soon as they are ready. The Public Broadcaster is meant to make services available to South Africans in all official languages and include significant amounts of educational programming, both curriculum based and informal education from a wide range of societal, political and economic issues, including, but not limited to human rights, health, early childhood development, agriculture, religion, justice and commerce and contributing to a shared South African consciousness and identity. We view this as a massive step in the right direction. Over 5 Million South Africans cannot access television services due to non-Terrestrial Television Networks in the remote areas. This initiative will finally talk to Universal Access that we have advocated for. CWU had a concern that the 24hour news channel (SABC) launched in August 2013 was on Multichoice Platform pay television which was not available to the poorest of the poor and the working class. We therefore urge the Public Broadcaster to forge ahead with its programme and constitutional mandate. CWU demands that the newly appointed task team speed up its work in dealing with all challenges identified, and bring stability at the SABC. They should further prioritise the filling of all senior positions and bring certainty in management and staff. The Public Broadcaster (SABC) has a different mandate compared to its competitor the Private Broadcaster, and SABC is not a money making business, therefore the minister must ensure that adequate funding is made available for fulfilment of the mandate. CWU acknowledges the resilience demonstrated by the team led by Hlaudi Motsoeneng (SABC Chief Operations Officer) and Kganki Matabane (Sentech Chief Operations Officer) in realising this award winning achievement. *Enquiries: * *Matankana Mothapo (National Spokesperson) * *Mobile: 0810185458* *Email: [email protected]/[email protected]* *Twitter: @matankanajmotha * *Website: www.cwu.org.za* -- -- You are subscribed. This footer can help you. Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to this message. You can visit the group WEB SITE at http://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum for different delivery options, pages, files and membership. To UNSUBSCRIBE, please email [email protected] . You don't have to put anything in the "Subject:" field. You don't have to put anything in the message part. All you have to do is to send an e-mail to this address (repeat): [email protected] . --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "YCLSA Discussion Forum" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
