SAFA, SABC partnership back on track

The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) has confirmed that negotiations between them and the South African Football Association (SAFA) are progressing well and the two bodies will soon be signing a contract that will see them resuming their partnership.

SABC and SAFA were at loggerheads late last year owing to the disagreement about the contract negotiations which led to the public not watching Bafana Bafana on the national broadcaster’s TV channels nor listening to the matches on its radio stations.

But the SABC Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) Madoda Mxakwe revealed on Friday that their long-standing union with the country’s football mother body is heading back on track.

SAFA president Danny Jordaan also confirmed that the partnership between the two companies is back on track and people can expect to see the Nelson Mandela Challenge game between Bafana Bafana and Mali on the SABC platforms on Sunday.

At first SAFA had rejected SABC’s offer of R10 million for all its properties and argued that they were prepared to stay on the R110 million a year deal that they had on the previous contract.

Jordaan stopped short of saying they have had to reach a compromise on the new deal they are negotiating.

Meanwhile, Mxakwe says they will continue to play their role as the media partner in the SA Sports Awards following the launch of the 14^th edition of these awards on Friday.

The Sports Awards will be held in Durban on the 10^th of next month and Mxakwe has more on the effectiveness of this partnership.

Currently the SABC is only broadcasting the Springbok matches in the Rugby World Cup on radio and not TV but Mxakwe says they remain hopeful that in future rugby would return to the public broadcaster screens.

– Report by Velile Mnyandu