Fikile Mbalula Says SABC’s ANC Coverage Is Impacting Party’s Performance, Broadcaster Answers Back

• Fikile Mbalula of the African National Congress (ANC) has blamed the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) for the party's decline in votes
• The SABC responded to these accusations by maintaining that they adhered to journalistic principles and standards in their election reporting
• South Africans believe that the ANC is looking for someone to blame their failures on instead of holding each other accountable

JOHANNESBURG - Fikile Mbalula, the ANC's head of elections, has expressed disdain for the SABC, which he believes broadcast in such a way that discouraged voters from voting for the party in the run-up to the local government election at the beginning of the month.

The SABC has rejected Mbaula's claims and maintains that they have remained committed to the core journalistic principles of objectivity and fairness.

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Phathiswa Magopeni, a SABC executive, also came under fire from Mbalula, who alleged that the broadcaster only highlighted the party's faults, SABC News reports.

Mbalula vs SABC

The SABC says that without written evidence, the ANC cannot bring a case against them. The broadcaster maintains that they adhered to the Editorial Policy as well as election reporting standards during various parties' pre-election campaigns.

According to Times Live, the SABC refuses to take the blame for the ANC's decline in votes following the local government election because they followed protocol in their reporting and did not favour any party over another.

However, Mbalula's focus is on a SABC show called Service Delivery Gauge. This show focused on the quality of service delivery in different parts of South Africa, and with the ANC as the ruling party being responsible for service delivery, it seemed like a direct attack on the party.

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Mbalula argues that the show's viewers could have been dissuaded from voting for the ANC due to reports of poor service delivery. He blames the state of service delivery in the country on corruption.

Reactions to Mbalula and the SABC's beef

@moyo_sheperd said:

"SABC has done its mandate fairly as a public broadcaster reported the truth about the party factionalism."

@boltbolaya belives:

"They will blame everyone and everything under the sun except themselves."

@WestdykErna shared:

"That's a new low in the blame game, even for Mbalula."

@NtokozoKaNgema asked:

"Why are they blaming everyone but themselves?"

ANC's Fikile Mbalula 'accidentally' tweets #VoteEFF

Previously, Briefly News reported that Fikile Mbalula, the African National Congress's Head of Elections, has become the butt of the joke on social media after he accidentally showed support for the opposition party, the Economic Freedom Fighters.

Mbalula took to social media on Sunday night to post a video of ANC President Cyril Ramaphosa in FF leader Julius Malema's home city of Polokwane in Limpopo canvassing for votes.

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The Head of Elections captioned his post saying:

"The President is now in Ward 26 addressing the community of Turfloop. ANC in Polokwane. #VoteEFF #BuildingBetterCommunties."

Source: Briefly News