Even though they were a product of apartheid’s propaganda broadcasting machine, Zulu language radio dramas proved subversively powerful by reflecting communal black life and creating new stars.
South African politician Julius Malema often attacks journalists.
EPA-EFE/Brenton Geech
Multichoice’s dominant power over South Africa’s public sphere suggests that dropping ANN7 may send a bad signal for media freedom and democratic debate.
Television news station linked to the Guptas faces imminent closure.
Reuters/Siphiwe Sibeko
Forty years after the apartheid regime clamped down on the free press, South Africa’s media continues to face threats, albeit in more subtle forms than in the past.
Demonstrators march against corruption in South Africa.
Reuters/Mike Hutchings
The scandals surrounding South Africa’s power utility, Eskom, were caused by the neglect of corporate governance rules by the board, the executive authority, and the public enterprises minister.
Demonstrators protest against censorship by the South African Broadcasting Corporation.
Reuters/Mike Hutchings
It’s vital that the problems at the South African Broadcasting Corporation be fixed in the public interest and for democracy, given its wide media reach in the country.
South African President Jacob Zuma. Granting him amnesty would send the wrong signal.
Peter Foley/EPA
While some African countries have shown an improvement in press freedom and freedom of expression ratings, others, including South Africa, are seeing worrying trends and a drop in rankings.
South Africa’s parastatals are in a dire state. Instead of being the mandated sites of development and profitability, they are costing the public purse billions and have been abused.
Protesters decry the decision by the South African Broadcasting Corporation not to air scenes of violent protest.
Reuters/Mike Hutchings
There were high hopes that the SABC would become a true public broadcaster after the end of apartheid when it was used ruthlessly as a propaganda machine. But those hopes have since been dashed.