About the SABC

Engaging our AudiencesAs a public service broadcaster, the SABC’s audiences have adirect stake in the Corporation, making engagement with itsaudiences an imperative of the organisation.STAKEHOLDER MANAGEMENTInternally, mindful of Parliament’s oversight role on behalf of thepeople of South Africa, the SABC has established a ParliamentaryServices Office which provides the organisation with strategicadvice on parliamentary procedures and legislation passed onbroadcasting.The SABC’s Public Affairs Department manages its relations withstakeholders and various parties whose interests converge withthose of the organisation. The aim is to maintain cordial relationsconducive to the SABC’s agenda of public service.The SABC’s International Affairs Department has pursuedpartnerships with the PBI, AUB, SABA and Discorp, resulting incontent exchange, business development opportunities andplatforms through which to showcase the SABC’s readiness for the2010 FIFA World Cup.CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONSIn Corporate Communications the focus was on ensuring that allstaff within the SABC internalise the value proposition of puttingaudiences at the centre of everything the organisation does,and that the SABC strives to ensure open, honest and fruitfulinteraction with everybody who comes to its offices, who callsfor information and advice, who phones the Contact Centre, whocomes to tour its facilities or who interacts with the organisationthrough its digital media.Interventions in this regard during the year under review includedinternal communication on the SABC’s strategic goal of financialsustainability and its vision of Total Citizen Empowerment.Ongoing project updates were provided, with communicationbeing intensified around key projects such as DTT. An interactivestrategy implementation, web-based animation site which will belaunched in the 2009/10 financial year, was developed.The corporate intranet was revamped as a short term measure toprovide staff with information and knowledge to enable them todo their work better. A new corporate intranet, with an onlineresources centre, is currently under development.The SABC’s Contact Centre also improved the way it interactswith citizens through a technology upgrade which enables theorganisation to respond to calls more efficiently. In the year underreview the Contact Centre fielded about 380 000 calls, most ofthem relating to programme changes and TV licences.Besides telephonic interaction, 36 485 people visited theCorporation’s facilities in Auckland Park during 2008/09,4 519 more than the previous year. Importantly, 90% ofthe visitors were tertiary and school-going students. Theyear also saw an increase - from 200 to about 375 - in thenumber of international, political, and corporate visitors.Visitors to the SABC are taken through radio and TV productionstudios, news studios, the media library, the technical museum,the décor bay as well as mock studios where they can make theirown demos. Partly because of the SABC’s interactive engagementwith visitors, it was nominated by the Gauteng Premier’s Office asone of the key tourist destinations for 2010.To improve the experience of visitors to the SABC even further,during the year under review, the Corporation commissioned anindependent communications survey amongst staff and patronswho visited the SABC offices for business or tours. The feedbackreceived has informed the design of more interactive tools,upward communication forums as well as faster communication.SABC Annual Report 2008 / 200999