South Africa’s public broadcaster SABC says it has no funds to adequately cover an upcoming local government election. The state’s Treasury has turned down a request from SABC for 120 million Rand (€6.2m) for dedicated funding. SABC is appealing to South African parliament’s Communications Committee to intervene.

“Without funding, the SABC does not have the capacity or resources to provide adequate election coverage,” acting CFO Tendai Matore told MPs.

SABC CEO Nomsa Chabeli warned that the Electoral Commission expects roughly 400 political parties to contest the local government elections.

“The nature of local government elections requires extensive, wall-to-wall coverage across the country,” Chabeli said. “Without funding, the SABC will not be able to deploy infrastructure, staff or resources at the required scale.”

Communications minister Solly Malatsi went on record to say that in previous election years, additional funding had always been provided for election coverage, and said he hoped resources would be made available. He confirmed that his department’s engagements with the country’s national treasury on the matter were ongoing.

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Categories: Articles, Broadcast, Funding

Tags: SABC, south africa