Russia's RT Channel To Launch South African Hub

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Russia's RT channel has embarked on expansion plans in Africa, starting to set up headquarters on the continent in South Africa where the Kremlin-funded TV channel is carried and supported by China.

Paula Slier, the South African TV reporter who previously worked for SABC News and who was posted in Jerusalem, Israel, as RT's correspondent for that region, is now overseeing the set-up of RT's African headquarters in South Africa and will be managing the bureau.

On Monday an RT spokesperson told News24 ; "We are indeed currently focused on developing our English-language Africa hub in South Africa, headed up by Paula Slier – a South Africa native, RT's longtime correspondent and formerly head of RT's Jerusalem bureau".

"We will be releasing more updates about the particulars of this operation at the appropriate time," RT said.

 

According to an insider, the RT South African newsroom is currently being set up although it's still unclear how many South African staff, camera operators and reporters RT plans to hire as it takes a page from the playbook of what other global TV news channels like CNN International, Al Jazeera, BBC World News and China's pro-Beijing CGTN have done in Africa.

The African expansion of Russia's state-backed TV channel comes amid Russia's unprovoked invasion and ongoing war in Ukraine and widespread global condemnation of the pro-Russia and anti-Ukraine misinformation and propaganda on the channel over the past few months.

RT banned by EU
Earlier this year RT was banned by the European Union (EU), as well as in Canada and in the United Kingdom by Britain's broadcasting regulator Ofcom.

Imposed EU sanctions also meant that RT abruptly went dark in South Africa and across sub-Saharan Africa on 2 March. This was the date when Luxembourg-based companies like Intelsat and SES SA flipped the kill-switch on the satellite uplinking of RT's channel feed to their satellite transponders like Intelsat's IS-20 on which a pay-TV operator like the Randburg-based MultiChoice leases bandwidth to bring the channel to DStv subscribers.

 

Google and other companies also blocked the propaganda channel's YouTube streaming.
Two-and-a-half months later, RT surprisingly flickered back on South African TV screens on 11 May – this time thanks to Chinese support.

The MultiChoice pay-TV rival, StarTimes Media – running the StarSat pay-TV service in South Africa and StarTimes elsewhere in Africa – added RT to its TV channels line-up in mid-May, using SES S.A.'s SES-5 satellite transponder on which StarTimes/StarSat is leasing space.

SES S.A. is a satellite and terrestrial telecommunications network provider also based in Luxembourg in Europe. SES S.A. told News24 that it "engaged with European regulatory bodies to suspend the distribution of specific Russia Today channels and Sputnik across Europe" and had turned off the designated signals on 2 March.

"While the channel in question – Russia Today Global – is being delivered via SES-5 (a satellite that SES owns) over sub-Saharan Africa, it is our customer who has leased our bandwidth and is distributing the channel over the leased capacity."
"SES also notes that this channel is not one that has been banned by the European Union."

 

"We have been engaging with our customers and regulatory authorities to assess both what we can do and must do under the various legal regimes to which we are subject. SES is prepared to take immediate action and implement any instructions we receive from regulatory authorities,” the company said.

StarTimes told the press in May that as a pay-TV service it "takes pride in sourcing relevant and current content to enhance our packages, thus we regard RT Global as a 24-hour English-language news channel that focuses on all major economic, political and social issues of our time".

Move from Kenya to SA
While RT's original plan was to get a localised foothold on the African continent by establishing its African bureau in Nairobi, Kenya where the African headquarters of China's CGTN has also been set up and based for the past few years, RT has now switched from the East African country to South Africa where it won't be directly competing with CGTN for newsroom resources.

It's unclear if RT's move away from Kenya to South Africa to set up its first localised African hub is possibly a tit-for-tat move to get out of CGTN's way, after StarTimes' decision to sign a channel carriage agreement to showcase RT on channel 260 of the Chinese pay-TV platform.

In February RT still posted adverts for journalist positions who would have had to work and be based in Nairobi.

The RT spokesperson didn't comment on the African location change, how many South African staff RT plans to hire, or why RT is interested in creating a regional headquarter in Africa.

Disturbing Facts About Controversial News Station Afro Worldview (Formerly ANN7)

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8 years ago, MultiChoice operated Afro Worldview (known as ANN7 at the time) which was a Gupta owned news station which gained attention mainly for its technical setbacks, untrained staff and behind the scenes antics.

Today, we explore some various aspects of the former DStv channel some much worse than others but after reviewing this you'd understand why MultiChoice opted to cut ties and source Newsroom Afrika as an alternative to Afro Worldview.

Here are the disturbing facts about Afro Worldview part of which were highlighted in the book Indentured - Behind The Scenes At Gupta TV

 

"Rajesh, I want you to prepare for our first meeting with DStv, our enemies at MultiChoice. Arun and you will go to the meeting tomorrow and I want you to give them a copy of the EPG and make sure that channel 404 on DStv is allocated to us. But I want to warn you, they are our enemies. They will try everything to see us fail," writes Rajesh Sundaram. Mentioned on page 62 of Indentured.

1. Afro Worldview wanted to be on channel 404 currently occupied by SABC News and went as far as getting Jacob Zuma involved.
2. MultiChoice was a big enemy of Gupta owned channel.

"It was clear that the team from MultiChoice did not believe we were technically or editorially prepared to launch a news channel by the end of July. The tension in the room was palpable. They were visibly upset with the political pressure that was being brought to bear on them to launch the channel quickly and on the terms directed by the Guptas." Mentioned on page 63 on Indentured.

 

"We did not have the people, the studio was not complete, and much of the broadcasting equipment had not even been ordered at this time. The team did not even have newsgathering and studio cameras." Mentioned on page 63 on Indentured.

3. MultiChoice was seemingly aware that the channel was not ready to launch at the time.

"DStv suddenly gave in. Even as ANN7 was offering three bulletins a day produced on primitive systems and equipment nowhere near the quality standards prescribed by DStv, it was announced internally that DStv had been 'pressured' through president Jacob Zuma 's office to oust Russia Today from the 405 slot and give it to us." Mentioned on page 126 on Indentured.

4. Russia Today moved from channel 405 to 408 due to pressure from Jacob Zuma to occupy ANN7 on a higher channel number but MultiChoice has denied it and claimed the change was a way of getting local channels closer.

"His plan saved the company thousands of rands, but it cost the company millions in lost reputation, as we found out post-launch."
"Atul wanted Gerry Rantseli-Elsdon to train the models. Gerry was hired to present the breakfast show, which had been branded Vuka Africa."
"Gerry was given a table and chair, a white board and a training room. Some days she had a camera at her disposal. She had no teleprompter, professional monitors or audio equipment in the initial weeks." Mentioned on page 107 on Indentured.

 

5. Afro Worldview used models as news anchors.

"The bulletins we had produced at that time were, unsurprisingly, fullof technical glitches and were anchored by a group of models hired by Atul and trained by Gerry Rantseli-Elsdon . The young women were very raw, clueless about the news they were reading and very unfamiliar with a studio setting." Mentioned on page 130 on Indentured.

6. Afro Worldview always had glitches with their bulletins even before launch.

"We are nowhere near the quality of CNN International or BBC. He had very little understanding of television or the primitive conditions under which the bulletins were being produced." Mentioned on page 114 on Indentured.

7. Channel boss had little experience with television.

"The archival footage at the SABC was indeed of a very high quality and in my view worth millions of rands," writes Rajesh Sundaram. "Nazeem, Laxmi and Atul repeatedly told me that the contract with the SABC for this sale favoured ANN7, was drafted by Gupta lawyers and that the price of the footage was 'peanuts' compared to its real value."

 

8. "Stupid SABC" - Before MultiChoice, SABC sold their archives to Afro Worldview.

He told Biznews that Indian staffers, brought to South Africa on tourist visas and who worked in the country illegally, had to live on the ANN7 Midrand construction site "in sub-human conditions".
"There were staff that Atul Gupta would slap; and physically abuse us; scream verbal abuse at people. For instance say the playout system crashes, Atul Gupta would come into the production control room and start beating up the audio console person".

9. Channel boss was abusive to staff by slapping and calling them names.

"My relationship with ANN7 started when I was approached to produce a show for the station. It was supposed to start on Sunday but there were issues I wasn't happy with since I discovered its history with the Guptas."

10. Controversial pastor Paseka "Mboro" Motsoeneng pulled his gospel show due to ties with Guptas.