Page 183 - Religion, Media, and the Public Sphere

ignoring the (moral) importance of religion in society. Dr. Ed McCain, acting
president of United Christian Action, spoke of the “high-handed, dictatorial at-
titude” of the SABC in failing to consult with religious bodies over the cutbacks.
The outraged response was not just limited to the Christian constituency. Abie
Dawjee, a spokesman for Jamiatul Ulama (KwaZulu-Natal) (a council of Mus-
lim theologians) and a member of IFRB, stated: “We are appalled at this cut.
The religious majority, a vast share of the population, will be deprived of broad-
casting.” He went on to bemoan the loss of the small gains that the Muslim
community had made in the face of Christian-dominated broadcasting.

Mediating State and Religious Interests:
SABC as the “Pulse of Africa’s Creative Spirit”

From 1998 on, following the revision and approval of the Religious
Broadcasting Panel, SABC, in its annual report (for 1997–98), described its
(new) role with regard to religious programs as follows:
The SABC, in its role as a public service broadcaster, has an obligation to re®ect all
faiths in an unbiased and appropriately representative manner. This, therefore, sees
the presence of dedicated religious broadcasts on both radio and television. These
cover the various formats of devotional, worship service, magazine, panel discus-
sion, phone-in and music programmes catering to a wide spectrum of ages and
preferences, and in all 11 of the of¤cial languages. 17

Referring to the RBP, “which tries to ensure respect for all religions and equi-
table representation for the expression of each faith within the total amount of
religious broadcasting air time” (ibid.), the SABC report further states that “the
total amount of time allocated to religious broadcasting should be such that
those religions with the smallest ratio of air time enjoy meaningful and suf¤-
cient programming on a faith-speci¤c basis” (ibid.). The report also indicates
the adjustment in guidelines for the allocation of airtime for the various reli-
gions:

Christianity 70% (as previously)
Hinduism 7.5% (increased from 5%)
Islam 7.5% (increased from 5%)
ATR 10% (increased from 5%)
Judaism 5% (increased from 3%) 18
By the following year, the 1998–99 annual report had dropped the reference
to the goal of re®ecting “all faiths in an unbiased and appropriately representa-
tive manner” and, signi¤cantly, it did not feature in any of the subsequent re-
ports. In the report of 2000–2001, the mention of “respect for all religions and
equitable representation” has disappeared, yet the report describes the “positive
impact on television audiences” of religious programs as they “continued to
educate and inform viewers about the various religions and the life of their

172 Rosalind I. J. Hackett