Zimbabweans Blacklisted At SABC
Hey Journos’ We should Get Opinion From These Guys Blackballed At Home and Away

Excerpts From Mail and Guardian Online
(South Africa)
SABC Chief, Dr Snuki Zikalala is facing accusations of inappropriate conduct particularly the blacklisting of certain people such as Archbishop Pius Ncube, Mail and Guardian Publisher Trevor Ncube, Moletsi Mbeki and Elinor Sisulu.

Also blacklisted were Business Day Political Editor Karima Brown, analyst Aubrey Mashiqi on comments he made in a South African Daily the Sowetan among other

The commission’s 78-page report, of which the Mail & Guardian has a copy, is damning. It confirms the existence of an arbitrary blacklist of outside commentators who should not be consulted and says there is a climate of fear in the broadcaster’s newsrooms. It is scathing about the arbitrary decision-making, the iron-fist rule and the lack of editorial knowledge of the news and current affairs managing director Snuki Zikalala.

Yet on Thursday both the board and the SABC’s group chief executive, Dali Mpofu, said they had “full confidence” in Zikalala, meaning that he will not lose his job or face other serious sanction.

How Mbeki, Sisulu and Ncube were barred
This is an edited version of a letter sent by Pippa Green, then head of news, to Snuki Zikalala on April 6 last year:
Dear Snuki

I was extremely perturbed by events on yesterday’s Radio News line talk.

[You] threatened to take action against myself and the national bulletin editor, Vusi Sithole, for any “opinion” that is reported on Zimbabwe.

Perhaps your intention was to intimidate the staff into confusion about what they are and are not allowed to report on Zimbabwe.

You expressly forbade the views of members of civil society on the situation in Zimbabwe, naming two specific individuals: Elinor Sisulu and Moeletsi Mbeki. Sisulu is an active member of civil society both here and in Zimbabwe.

As for Mr Mbeki, he is a former journalist and now businessman who also happens to be head of the South African Institute of International Affairs.

You also informed our line talk that you had excised the voices of Zimbabwean Archbishop Pius Ncube and publisher Trevor Ncube from a TV report on Zimbabwe, and said that you held the same views about their voices on radio.

Archbishop Ncube, whatever we may think of his view, is the head of the Catholic Church in Zimbabwe.

Barring his views on the situation in his own country would be equivalent to barring the views of Archbishop Desmond Tutu on social and political matters here.

Our own editorial code and the goals that we in the news division set ourselves was to promote the voices of civil society in our news and current affairs programmes.

In conclusion if your instruction was not to use Moeletsi Mbeki, Archbishop Pius Ncube, Trevor Ncube or Elinor Sisulu, all legitimate public figures, then I submit that it is so unreasonable to be unimplementable. It would be morally wrong, professionally wrong, and ethically wrong, and violate not only our editorial code but the spirit of our Constitution.

I would be grateful if you could clarify this.

Thank you for your attention.

Sincerely, Pippa Green, Head Radio News

From the desk of Zikalala
These are verbatim quotes from evidence given to the commission by the SABC news chief Snuki Zikalala

On Trevor Ncube: “I had lunch with him, I said Trevor Ncube, every Friday in his newspaper he smashes Zimbabwe, every Friday. So why should I give him a platform on my broadcaster? Because he’s got an opportunity in his newspaper. Let’s get another voice inside Zimbabwe. I said let’s get a different voice, not a Mail & Guardian voice ... I said Trevor ... you should not be used ... because you take information and give it to our people and your information is biased, it’s biased and not balanced.”

(ZimJournalists was not able to locate Zikalala’s response on the other Zimbabweans and South African Activists.)

Commentators said this week that the SABC was failing the public by not releasing the report on the broadcaster’s alleged blacklisting of certain commentators and analysts because their political views.

ZimJournalists Does Not Accept Responsibility For The Contents of This Report, Nor Does This Article Reflect The Opinions of the ZimJournalists Arise Team.