Letter: All SA teams must be shown on national TV

By Brian Pittman

I must thank Sports Minister Gayton Mckenzie for giving every South African the chance to watch and enjoy the Springboks beating New Zealand on our local TV channels.

Why, in the first instance, was it not possible to watch the second Test against New Zealand on our national broadcaster?

Many people cannot afford to pay the exorbitant prices that are charged to go and watch a game, and then of course there are the punters that buy block bookings and sell the tickets at ridiculous prices.

Our Proteas cricket side have been doing reasonably well when they get a chance to compete on the ICC calendar, but I cannot recall when last I watched their matches being televised.

And then of course we get our national soccer team, who seem –notwithstanding their absolutely dismal performances over the years, since the days of Clive Barker – to be on TV all the time. And lo and behold, we also now have the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers being shown all the time.

Minister McKenzie, was that little titbit of a Rugby Test match involving our own South African winners, beating their great rivals the All Blacks four times in a row for the first time since 1949, all that you can offer? Or as minister of sport, do you not have the power to show the nation that you can give them what they want to see, and that is not only the inept soccer that has been on display?

I shudder when I turn on the TV and see a replay of The A-Team, which I think I watched about 30 years ago. Is SABC TV also bankrupt?

Cape Times