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Editorial: SABC’s brat spat hurts most South Africans

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So the poor continue to suffer because of the ongoing spat over broadcast rights.

Football-loving South Africans are starving for action – on national broadcasting. They can’t even get the scores and scorers after the SABC allegedly banned anything PSL on all their platforms.

You cannot ban everything PSL on radio stations because most citizens rely on this platform not only for football results but for any football-related matters.

Listening to some sports programme this week was a real pain as it had no content. Listeners were subjected to rugby, cricket and every other sport except to the one that is supported by the majority of South Africans. What about those who bet on these matches? They have to run around to get the results when they could easily get them from their radio stations.

This is a kind of censorship and takes us back to yesteryear when certain songs and musicians could not get airplay.

With PSL in full swing already, there seems to be no solution in sight and this has left millions in the dark regarding their favourite teams.

The SABC board and its executives need to show more maturity in handling its commercial disputes. While they might feel they are being short-changed by the PSL and SuperSport, it is childish to punish their listeners and viewers by trying to make a point. This is a classic of cutting your nose to spite your face.

It is a fact that the majority of South Africans don’t have the pay channel and this means they have no access to matches.

While the SABC is still trying to show who is the boss or who has more money, it should not let the poor and disadvantaged suffer.

So it is true that when two bulls are fighting it is the grass that suffers. In this case, it is the majority of South Africans who have to bear the brunt of this spat.

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