THE FIRST EVER NATIONAL BROADCAST ENDED UP WITH A FOXTROT TO - - PDF document

The first “official” radio broadcast in South Africa took place at the South African Railways headquarters in Johannesburg on the 18th

• f December, 1923. After an introductory speech by Prime Minis-

ter Jan Smuts, the wo-hour programme commenced with the Johannesburg Male Voice Choir, followed by a long list of musical performers, before ending with the Johannesburg Operatic Society. It was later reported that all was: “loud and clear in tone but unintelligible in speech because a passing thunderstorm interfered with the broadcast.” The first time that a radio programme was broadcast country-wide was a few months later, when the country’s first radio station JB in Joburg, and was listened to in Cape Town. Newspaper reports claimed that delighted Capetonians danced to the popular tune of the day: “Winkey Wonky Woo”.

THE FIRST EVER NATIONAL BROADCAST ENDED UP WITH A FOXTROT TO WINKEY WONKEY WOO.

As the SABC was being established, the pompousness of the English Service was notorious: “In the English Service, the human female is a woman and not a lady” “In the English Service, people die; they do not pass on or pass away” “In the English Service, people go to the lavatory or the WC, perhaps permissibly the loo, but not the toilet” Announcers, news readers and presenters, only males, of course, were required to wear dinner jackets for all programmes broad- casted in the evenings. But, as it was long before the tape recorder was invented, everything was performed on a one-take basis!

IN THE 1930S, RADIO MEANT DINNER JACKETS AND OPERETTAS, BUT NO LADIES, TOILETS OR SECOND TAKES.

One of the most important developments at the SABC during the war years was the introduction

• f African language programmes which started

in 1941. Up to that point, the black population of South Africa had been completely ignored as an audience by the government. The first direct transmissions to a black audi- ence were made over telephone lines and relayed to certain townships. These allowed for broadcasts to be made in isiZulu, isiXhosa and Sesotho, and they carried news, both local and,

• f course, news of the war effort. The first

transmission was a three-minute news bulletin in isiZulu read by a gentleman who would have a huge impact on South African radio for many years to come: King Edward Masinga. Masinga – a broadcasting genius - went on to have a stellar career as a producer, director, actor, singer and collector of traditional music. He was also a playwright with a prodigious

• utput that included dozens of original radio

dramas, as well as several Shakespeare plays that he translated into Zulu.

WHY THE FIRST BLACK VOICE ON RADIO MUST NEVER BE SILENCED.

With South African troops making their way North to fight Mussolini’s army in East Africa, the SABC sent three mobile broadcast units, with teams of sound engineers and correspond- ents. Based on army trucks, the units were stripped and rebuilt into self-contained mobile recording units by SABC engineers. Inside, the equipment included two turntables and a cutting lathe that would enable the sounds of the war to be recorded on acetate discs, with electrical power being produced from two ordinary car batteries. These mobile units that travelled the length and breadth of North Africa, and later Italy and Germany so the 334 000 SA troops could stay in touch with loved ones at home.

DURING WORLD WAR II WE CARRIED MILLIONS TO THE BATTLEFRONT .

The modern jazz of the day had little success getting airtime, as the SABC stubbornly stuck to its preference for traditional African music, which was considered far less subversive than jazz. To build its source of traditional material, the SABC commissioned a major project which involved sending teams of technicians to all corners of the country to record traditional African music. Tribal chiefs, school principals and missionaries were persuaded to recruit local musicians and choirs to perform for the technical team to

• record. This project was headed up by Mr Kosie

Jooste who was in charge of “Native Broad- casts” at the SABC. Jooste and his sound engineers explored huge expanses of the country in fully-equipped SABC vans. Other than great entertainment for listeners, these recordings would also become an invalua- ble archive of traditional African music. Today, some 40 000 vinyl records are stored in the SABC Radio Archives, and are waiting to be digitised.

WHY THE APARTHEID AUTHORITIES WENT TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH TO STOP BLACK PEOPLE LISTENING TO JAZZ

As Radio Bantu proved so popular, the SABC’s first need was to recruit black people to fill positions at the various stations. Then, as the radio station’s insatiable demand for content grew, writers, musi- cian, composers and actors were given opportunities that they had never previously enjoyed. In its move to recruit qualified black personnel as radio announcers, the SABC ran an article in the Bantu Education Journal of November, 1960: “Radio Bantu authorities require the personnel serving each Bantu region to belong to the language group of that region. “On a personal level a successful candidate needed a lively disposition and the ability to improvise as well as having qualities of inventiveness and imagi-

• nation. Difficult situations often arise when the

announcer had to call on his own resourcefulness to fill-in time unexpectedly.”

“WANTED: IMAGINATIVE BANTU YOUTH WITH IMPECCABLE PRONUNCIATION”

In the early 1970s, South Africans could only look on in envy as they were deprived of a television service by a blinkered government fearful of losing its grip in the propaganda war. And the fact that such a spectacle as the first person to set foot on the moon could not be seen on television rankled many. Government propaganda, in attempting to influence the issue of a television service offered some disingenuous arguments that TV would not only be far too expensive, and that the viewers would have to foot the bill. Other arguments attempted to hoodwink the public, included this rather devious comparison with radio: “TV demands full attention. It eliminates hobbies, amuse- ments or occupations. Radio offers music and light entertainment as a pleasant background to the daily chores or the evening hobby”. However, none were more ridiculous than the claim made by the then Minister of Posts and Telegraphs, Dr Albert Hertzog: “Television as a destroyer of the human spirit is a bigger menace than the atom or hydrogen bomb!”

WHEN TELEVISION WAS A BIGGER MENACE THAN ATOMIC AND HYDROGEN BOMBS

In 1986, the country’s first ever sitcom to be written, produced and directed by black South Africans was broadcast for the first time. “Sgudi Snaysi” was a raucous comedy that starred popular comedy actor Joe Mafela who played the loveable rogue, S’Dumo, who lived as a boarder with Sis May, played by Daphne Hlomu- ka, and her niece Thoko, played by Thembi Mtshali. Another character was the neighbour, Louise, which was played by Gloria Mudau. The recur- ring plot throughout the series always revolved around S’Dumo’s dire financial troubles, and his

• utrageous antics in trying to turn his financial

woes around. Not only was this series one of the longest-run- ning TV sitcoms with 78 hour-long episodes, it was also enjoyed the SABC’s highest ever viewership figures, making it the most popular TV comedy ever on South African TV . As a postscript to the “Sgudi Snaysi” story, in 2002, the series producer, Robert Durrant, was given the rare honour of serving as president of the sitcom jury in the Rose d’Or Festival in Montreux, Switzerland, one of the most prestig- ious award festivals in the TV world.

S’DUMO: THE LOVABLE ROGUE WHO STOLE THE NATION’S HEART .

One of the corporation’s most outstanding success stories, “Noot vir Noot” has produced

• ver 550 episodes, spread over 22-years of
• broadcasting. This gives the series the distinc-

tion of being amongst the top ten longest-run- ning game shows in the world. Conceived and produced by Johan Stemmet and Johan van Rensburg, getting the show off the ground was a bumpy ride. The first series only received a lukewarm response both from the audience and the powers that be at the corpora- tion. But then a second stroke of luck came when another scheduled show ran into production difficulties, and “Noot vir Noot” was given a second lifeline. This time, lessons had been learned. When the show first aired in the early 1990’s it was a time of great political and social upheaval for South Africa, yet “Noot vir Noot” transcend- ed race, class, educational abilities, even language, and it became the quintessential South African show.

TWICE HE FAILED MISERABLY , UNTIL HE HIT THE PERFECT NOTE VIR NOTE

Throughout the 1990s, one name that defined the perfect, laid-back Sunday afternoon was Grant Shakoane. As a man naturally blessed with a gentle wit, a ready laugh and an abun- dance of warmth, Grant would charm his legions of fans with American-style R&B, jazz and soul, as well as romantic ballads. In-be- tween tracks, Grant would deliver life-affirming, motivational messages to all who needed them. However, his first live show was hardly a

• triumph. Grant tells the story about his first live

session; after his initial dialogue when he introduced himself to his new audience, he played his first record. Then, keen to hear how he had sounded, he grabbed the phone in the studio to call his wife at home. Unfortunately, he also forgot to switch off the “red light” switch that controlled the micro- phone when the DJ is “on air”. Right in the middle of that first song, thousands of listeners heard an anxious Grant asking his wife what she thought, and if he was any good. The fact was, he was sensationally good. Good enough to become one of the longest running programmes on any Black radio station.

FOR THE TIME OF YOUR LIFE AND THE LIFE OF YOUR TIMES

A visitor to South Africa in 1995 was Queen

• Elizabeth. The highlight of this, her first trip to

South Africa since 1947, was a service at St George’s Cathedral in Cape Town. Broadcast-wise, this was a large, 12-camera affair, where all the equipment had to be discreetly situated inside the cathedral so as to be as unobtrusive as possible. However, only one camera presented a clear view of her majesty: a side-on, profile shot. There was just one obstacle: Prince Philip’s chair was directly in between the camera and her majesty. Without any further ado, and consulting no-one, the director simply moved the Prince’s chair back by half a metre. Later that day, the service was broadcast without any hitch and South Africans had a clear uninter- rupted view of Her Majesty. It was interesting to note that in one of the following day’s newspapers, an article appeared which commented on how British royal protocol dictated that His Highness, Prince Philip, always sat at least two feet behind the Queen. Needless to say, the director and the OB crew said nothing.

PUTTING PRINCE PHILLIP IN HIS PLACE

The !X-K FM broadcasting facility was opened by the then Chairperson of the SABC Board, the late Dr Ivy Matsepe-Catsuburi in 2000. Although only reaching a relatively small audi- ence, it was still a major milestone in the history of the corporation as it marked, what is likely to be, the last audience that needed to be reached within the country. Both !Xu and Khwe are amongst the oldest living languages in the world. The !Xu language even has the rare distinction of being men- tioned in the “Guinness Book of World Records” as being the language with the most click

• sounds. By all accounts, it’s 48 distinct clicks!

Broadcast in 2000 started with seven hours of

• programming. When the !Xun and Khwe com-

munities were relocated to Platfontien, due to a lands claim settlement, the station followed in 2005. Today, !X-KFM broadcasts for 12 hours a day, 06:00 to 18:00. It covers news, current affairs, weather, sports, drama, including traditional San dramas, magazine programmes, youth education programmes and all issues of inter- est to the community

BREATHING MORE LIFE INTO ONE OF THE WORLD’S OLDEST LIVING LANGUAGES.

As the clock counted down to midnight on 1 January 2000, the world exploded in pyrotech- nic spectaculars. Starting in the Pacific Islands, before moving to New Zealand, and staggered

• n the hour of midnight as it progressed in an

easterly direction across the world, major cities competed with firework displays that were louder, brighter and more dazzling than anything previously experienced. With the eyes of the world glued onto TV

• screens. In Bethlehem, Israel, 2 000 doves of

peace were released. In Paris, 2000 lights that adorned the Eiffel Tower were switched on. In London, two million people lined the banks of the River Thames. In New York, three tons of confetti rained down on the three million revel- lers who had gathered in Time Square. And everywhere, tons of gunpowder was detonated in a frenzy of celebrations. In stark contrast, Cape Town’s festivities featured just a single candle.

LONDON: EIGHT TONS OF FIREWORKS. PARIS: FIREWORKS, LASERS BEAMS AND 2 000 LIGHTS. CAPE TOWN: ONE CANDLE.