Broadcasting the End of Apartheid: Live Television and the Birth of the New South Africa

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South Africa came late to television; when it finally arrived in the late 1970s the rest of the world had already begun to boycott the country because of apartheid. While the ruling National Party feared the integrative effects of television, they did not foresee how exclusion from globally unifying broadcasts would gradually erode their power. South Africa was barred from participating in some of television's greatest global attractions (including sporting events such as the Olympics and contests such as Miss World). With the release of Nelson Mandela from prison came a proliferation of large-scale live broadcasts as the country was permitted to return to international competition, and its re-admittance was played out on television screens across the world. These events were pivotal in shaping and consolidating the country's emerging post-apartheid national identity. Broadcasting the End of Apartheid assesses the socio-political effects of live broadcasting on South Africa's transition to democracy. Martha Evans argues that just as print media had a powerful influence on the development of Afrikaner nationalism, so the 'liveness' of television helped to consolidate the post-apartheid South African national identity.

Reviews

'An original exploration of the effects of apartheid South Africa's exclusion from worldwide televisual events (what I would call 'events envy') and a creative study of the role of live broadcasting in the post-apartheid era.' Elihu Katz, Trustee Professor of the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania and Professor Emeritus, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. 'Martha Evans has written a fascinating, thoroughly readable account of live television coverage of sport, politics and ceremonial occasions on South African television during the most turbulent years of its recent history. Her study of televised sport is a revelation, showing its divisive politics and vulnerability to disruption during apartheid and its momentary power to unite the "rainbow nation" as a newborn democracy in the 1990s. She carefully brings out the contested meanings of media events, both within South Africa and for the rest of the watching world. An important and original contribution to the study of global media events.' Paddy Scannell, Department of Communication Studies, University of Michigan

Author Bio

Martha Evans is a lecturer in Film and Media Studies at the University of Cape Town, where she completed her PhD thesis. She live and works in South Africa.