Government must avail money for sports broadcast rights - Gayton McKenzie

When SABC Sport pulled out of televising the Springbok Test matches against Ireland last month, and millions of local fans with no access to pay TV missed out on watching the world rugby champions, the government had to intervene. 

But McKenzie has told SABC Sport their approach was not to force SuperSport to hand over the broadcast rights for free.

"I am working on it. I've met with SuperSport, and you know there's a wrong perception that I want to fix now – when we say, 'We are going to war now', we are not going to war against Newsroom or SuperSport," clarified McKenzie.

"It is not the responsibility of SuperSport to make sure the people of this country see the game, and now people have the wrong impression.

"I'm going to war with the broadcaster, and I'm going to war with us politicians because we must make money available – the business of SuperSport is based on broadcasting rights.

"So, if I expect SuperSport tomorrow to give these [rights over] for free, I'm killing their business. I never made that an expectation."

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Since these developments, McKenzie and Minister of Communications and Technologies, Solly Malatsi, have met with the different broadcasters – SABC, SuperSport, and eMedia – to try resolve the broadcast impasse. 

McKenzie hopes by the time the Springboks play the All Blacks in Johannesburg at the end of this month, the matter will be finalised.

"I did meet with SuperSport, and because [Nelson] Mandela got his t-shirt 30 years ago, it's the very same thing in the very same stadium, so I'm talking to them," he added.

"But this thing of expecting – we are the public broadcaster, we are politicians, these people depend on; we can't put that responsibility on Newsroom, eNews, or SuperSport – no, it's wrong.

"We are responsible for our people not watching the games, and we must fix it as politicians. And I intend to fix that, as the Minister of Sports, Arts, and Culture, and I'm busy negotiating that particular game [of the Springboks]."