Snuki Joseph Zikalala is the president of the

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a political party in South Africa. It originated as a liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid and has governed the country since 1994, when the 1994 South African general election, fir ...

(ANC) Veterans' League in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

, and former managing director of news and current affairs of the

South African Broadcasting Corporation The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) is the public broadcaster in South Africa, and provides 19 radio stations (Amplitude modulation, AM/Frequency modulation, FM) as well as 6 television broadcasts and 3 OTT Services to the general ...

. Zikalala is 90th on the ANC national party list in the

2024 South African general election General elections were held in South Africa on 29 May 2024 to elect a new National Assembly (South Africa), National Assembly as well as the Provincial legislature (South Africa), provincial legislature in each of the Provinces of South Africa, ...

Early life

Before joining the SABC, Zikalala spent 25 years in journalism and earned numerous awards, including the SA Medical Association's best medical reporter and government's communicator of the year.

Education

Zikalala holds a BA Hons (industrial

sociology Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...

) from Wits University and an MA and PhD, both in

journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree of accuracy. The word, a noun, applies to the journ ...

, from

Sofia University Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski" () is a public university, public research university in Sofia, Bulgaria. It is the oldest institution of higher education in Bulgaria. Founded on 1 October 1888, the edifice of the university was constr ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

Criticism

During his role at the SABC, Zikalala attracted criticism for his pro- ANC stance. He was accused of using the publicly funded national broadcaster as a

propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded l ...

tool, sparking fears of a return to the days when the

apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

used it as such. Zikalala blacklisted various independent commentators from appearing on national television, and was harshly criticized by an independent commission for doing so. Zikalala stated in an address given at

Stellenbosch University Stellenbosch University (SU) (, ) is a public research university situated in Stellenbosch, a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Stellenbosch is the oldest university in South Africa and the oldest extant university in Sub-Sahara ...

that "The SABC is not the mouthpiece of the government of the day, nor should it broadcast its opinion of government policies, unless they relate directly to broadcasting matters". In the same address he accused

Rupert Murdoch Keith Rupert Murdoch ( ; born 11 March 1931) is an Australian - American retired business magnate, investor, and media mogul. Through his company News Corp, he is the owner of hundreds of List of assets owned by News Corp, local, national, a ...

's media company of having "an unashamedly neo-liberal agenda". In an attempt to hit back at the print media, Zikalala oversaw the launching of a program called ''In the Public Interest''. Zikalala stated that "just as the print criticises us, we will be able to criticise them". In a response, the Freedom of Expression Institute criticized this move, stating that "The SABC is merely the custodian of this public resource. It is inappropriate for the SABC to use a public resource as a platform for individuals in the SABC to settle scores with individuals in other media." Zikalala also continually denied the ongoing crisis in

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

. During an interview with

Jeremy Maggs Jeremy Maggs (born 1 February 1961) is a South African journalist, radio host and television presenter, best known for hosting the South African version of the game show Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? and for his anchoring roles on top South Af ...

on SAfm he stated that "There is food, it's just very expensive". In the same interview he also said that during his stay at the Sheraton in

Harare Harare ( ), formerly Salisbury, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of , a population of 1,849,600 as of the 2022 Zimbabwe census, 2022 census and an estimated 2,487,209 people in its metrop ...

he had been able to order

Johnnie Walker Johnnie Walker is a brand of Scotch whisky produced by Diageo in Scotland. It was established in the Scottish burgh of Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire in 1820, and continued to be produced and bottled at the town's Hill Street plant, once the world's ...

Black Label and

mineral water Mineral water is water from a mineral spring that contains various minerals, such as salts and sulfur compounds. It is usually still, but may be sparkling ( carbonated/ effervescent). Traditionally, mineral waters were used or consumed at t ...

and accordingly didn't understand what everyone was on about. On 6 May 2008, Snuki Zikalala was suspended with immediate effect by Dali Mpofu, Group CEO of the

SABC The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) is the public broadcaster in South Africa, and provides 19 radio stations (Amplitude modulation, AM/Frequency modulation, FM) as well as 6 television broadcasts and 3 OTT Services to the general ...

. Soon afterwards, Dali Mpofu himself was suspended by the SABC board.

References

South African male journalists Living people Year of birth missing (living people) {{Africa-journalist-stub