The discourse on the implications of ethnicised radio, for example, in the Nigerian ethnic conflicts, the Rwandan genocide of 1994 and in the Kenyan ethnic violence of 2008 have brought more focus on challenges involved with policing ethnic media and managing ethnic relations in contemporary Africa. This study focuses on attempts by the reformed South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), to develop and manage an ethnic minority radio sector in ways that would promote “simunye” or “national unity” as part of its public service mandate and to foster majority rule, in the post-1994 period with the objective of building a “rainbow nation”. The South African case is chosen on account of its long and complex history of apartheid and the overt use of ethnicity for political purposes. Further, it is informed by the post-apartheid efforts to emphasize the centrality of ethnicity; as part of the pluralist policies furthering the neo-liberal economic agenda. My research in 2008-2009 involved five carefully selected ethnic minority radio stations (Lotus FM, Munghana Lonene FM, Phalaphala FM, Radio Sonder Grense FM (RSG) and X-K FM), all owned and managed by the SABC as part of its public service mandate. Using a case study research methodology, the study investigated the development of ethnic minority radio broadcasting policies in post-apartheid South Africa, in the context of residual and incremental broadcasting policy models from the apartheid era. The nexus of ethnic minority radio and nationalism cohesion is a huge challenge in many other African countries and South Africa’s attempts at radio pluralism are a cautious walk on a tight rope given their history, which much like her economy, have local, regional and global aspects. Various theories are used as a conceptual framework; the public service broadcasting (PSB); models of ethnic minority media; and theories of ethnicity and nationalism. The study shows the challenges faced by PSBs in an African context. The discussion also involves the role of radio in the construction of a transient national identity and nation-building as a process. The main findings included the simmering tensions, intense politics and rivalry between groups running the ethnic minority radio stations. The appointment of top SABC personnel on ethnic basis feeds into the perceptions of ethnic relations at the stations and the marked feelings of ethnic consciousness at the radio stations that ubiquitously feed into the ‘rainbow nation’ project as part of the ‘retribalisation’ process. It affirms the rights of ethnic minorities to communicate through radio in their own languages within a multi-ethnic society; thereby giving meaning to its enigmatic instance. However, South Africa’s bold experiment with cultural pluralism in the radio sector offers Africa a delicate but workable way of dealing with ethnicity in public radio broadcasting. This research is an original analysis of policies, politics, history and aspects on the continuity of the ethnic radio sector in a local but rapidly globalising context. The study is important for its epistemological rethinking of public broadcasting and ethnicity in a non-Western context.

This is an exploratory study conducted to assess the way in which social media could enhance the experience for audiences of the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) television drama. This study focused on Facebook and Twitter since they are two of the top five social media networks that are popular in the country and which have the potential to offer television more mileage in terms of communicating with its audience and extending its reach. The guiding theory for this study was uses and gratifications theory. This theory was employed to assist in assessing the opportunities that exist for SABC television drama, as well as to assess the ways in which the audience believe social media could be helpful in interacting with SABC television drama. The results for this study are interesting in that the majority of respondents believed that having a hashtag on screen during a drama broadcast would help to increase interactivity with the programme, as it could help direct audiences to the correct interactive space for that programme and they would be able to share their ideas and comments on the drama directly with the producers, making feedback immediate. It was interesting to note that the respondents believed that they could interact with SABC television drama for information relating to the story. The findings suggest that SABC television drama needs to actively adopt social media in its programmes for maximum interaction. There is also the need for an understanding of how they Facebook and Twitter could be embedded in SABC drama. / Communication Science / M.A. (Communication Science)