Page 185 - Religion, Media, and the Public Sphere

and award-winning multifaith documentary Issues of Faith or featured as docu-
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mentaries. Some Christian programs retained their separate status—an option
preferable to the more conservative end of the Christian spectrum. A new de-
velopment is the Sunday morning breakfast show (Spirit Sundae) which aims to
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be “inclusive of the full spectrum of religion in South Africa.” With its more
creative and ®exible approach, it covers topics “ranging from current affairs to
the arts, religious festivals, cooking and holistic healing.” In addition, there are
worship programs and evening devotions for each of the main religious tradi-
tions (e.g., Jewish Voice, Aum, Izwi Labantu, Re®ections on Faith), as well as
morning devotions in various languages (Afrikaans, Sotho, Nguni) which re-
®ect the variety of expressions of Christianity around the country. These devo-
tional programs continue to claim the highest audience ratings.
In terms of “multifaith” programs (and “faith” is clearly the SABC term of
preference nowadays), there are the Issues of Faith documentaries on SABC2,
which discuss topics such as liberation, caste, ubuntu, or African humanism,
and human rights in relation to different religious communities. On SABC1,
which aims to reach more youthful audiences, there is Tapestries of Faith. Along
these lines, SABC1 broadcasts You Gotta Have Faith every Friday morning. This
is billed as a “life orientation program” which discusses the way religion affects
the choices people make in life. A 2001 program series, Paul and the Menu:
Cooking with Spirit, explored and celebrated religious multiculturalism through
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food under the aegis of a zany Anglican priest. The popular Free Spirit, a pro-
gram trendily described as “less about religion and more about spirituality,” and
destined “to enhance the lives of spiritually open South Africans,” is the brain-
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child of Religion Commissioning Editor Yashika Singh. It is not only repeated
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midweek but also has a related website. Music programs tend to have a Chris-
tian emphasis, such as the award-winning Gospel Gold and the ever popular
BBC classic Songs of Praise. A gospel talent show, Gospel Star has also been added
to the Crux (the Christian magazine program) slot on SABC1.
Wanting to be seen as promoting national harmony and integration, rather
than division and con®ict, producers may opt for a pastiche of viewpoints,
rather than allowing direct confrontation. The current (global) trend toward
framing news and issues more in the guise of entertainment and human interest
may also mitigate con®ictual differences between religious positions, and neu-
tralize any “prophetic” critique of the state by religious leaders. Although, to
SABC’s credit, they air some hard-hitting documentaries, such as the one (in
2001) on the controversial Nigerian Pentecostal miracle worker T. B. Joshua,
who has been attracting supplicants from southern Africa.

Current Challenges
In addition to trying to balance the (devotional and informational)
needs of South Africa’s diverse religious constituencies and promote (inter)re-
ligious understanding and tolerance in the interests of nation building, two of
the most contentious issues SABC has had to face on the religious broadcasting

174 Rosalind I. J. Hackett