Sports minister sets sights on free-to-air coverage

Sports, arts & culture minister Zizi Kodwa is planning to meet pay-channel SuperSport in an attempt to resolve the long-standing issue of sporting events of national importance being televised on public broadcaster the SABC. 

Speaking at the launch of the 2023 Telkom Netball League in Johannesburg on Wednesday, Kodwa said the majority of South Africans could not continue to be denied the opportunity to watch free-to-air major international sporting events. 

However, he might walk a tightrope in his negotiations because of the Independent Communications Authority of SA’s (Icasa’s) amended sports broadcasting regulations published in 2021. 

Section 60(1) of the Electronic Communications Act provides that subscription broadcasting services may not acquire exclusive rights that prevent or hinder the free-to-air broadcasting of national sporting events as identified in the public interest from time to time. 

Icasa said it observed a trend whereby national sporting events were mostly broadcast live on subscription television, resulting in the majority of South Africans being unable to access such events on a live basis due to the costs. 

But Icasa acknowledged that the sports industry relied on the sale of broadcasting rights as its biggest source of revenue. 

So, to even the playing field between pay-TV services and free services, parties need to conclude their commercial agreement regarding the actual time periods and scheduling of advertisements of national sporting events on fair, open and non-discriminatory terms. 

“One of the things we are going to continue to do is to talk to broadcasters — issues about broadcasting rights are sometimes used to deny the majority of South Africans the opportunity to see some of the live sports like rugby, netball, Banyana Banyana and so on,” Kodwa said.

“You can’t have [it that] the majority of South Africans can watch football only, that makes them not to appreciate other national sporting codes. We [the government] are the custodian of sport in the country, we hold that constitutional mandate given to us by the republic and cabinet.

“It all depends on political will and those of us who are in the executive. If you are talking about anything that must give access to the majority of people, I know where the majority comes from and they have been denied that right.” 

Kodwa said most South Africans could not afford subscriptions to watch live international sport because of SuperSport’s broadcast monopoly. 

“That’s why the majority of us, me and you, one of the popular sports we know is football and that is because we grew up confined to it and that was the only thing available on SABC. 

“We must change that because there are many other platforms, in terms of the monopoly, most South Africans cannot afford in terms of subscriptions. We must deal with that as part of dismantling the monopoly that denies the majority of South Africans [the opportunity to watch sports events on TV].”

He said the broadcasters, among themselves, had to negotiate certain rates to allow the public broadcaster to televise international games in all the national sporting codes. 

“Negotiations must start and I am starting them now by meeting SuperSport and MultiChoice in the coming days to deal with this issue. I hope to meet the SABC as well, but as you know there is no board there.”