From the outside, it?s little more than an abandoned, rundown school. Dust and broken concrete litter the premises. Stray dogs steal rubbish from overflowing bins in the bordering street. Bedraggled school children buy soft drinks from a vendor in a nearby alley.
But this building in Soweto is far from a depressing place. It?s near a house that once sheltered a young Nelson Mandela from the apartheid police. These days it?s a place of activity and excitement. Staff members hustle from one task to the next; guests sit in anticipation in makeshift waiting rooms; cameras turn to focus on subjects; laughter and shouting permeate the halls.
Poor in resources it may be, but industry insiders have described Soweto TV as one of the most exciting additions ever to Africa?s largest and most lucrative media sector.
In the distance, the behemoth that is the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) looms over Johannesburg, sunlight gleaming from its massive glass and metal façade, luxury vehicles shining in its many parking lots.
?I sometimes get sad, because most of my staff can?t even afford the most basic of vehicles,? says Tshepo Thafeng, Soweto TV?s managing director. ?They don?t earn much at all. They do what they do for the love of television.?
So far, love is taking the station a ?long way,? according to Elize Viljoen, a veteran producer of quality South African TV programming, and one of the primary figures behind Soweto TV?s success.
?Here, we emphasize hard work and creativity, not fancy airs and graces,? Viljoen says. Her comments are in line with the philosophy underpinning Soweto TV. The studios and control rooms were once classrooms. Tense technicians now hunch over TV monitors and sound mixing desks. And slogans like ?Real Television for Real People? are painted boldly across dark walls.
About two years ago, South African authorities granted Soweto TV a broadcasting license. Since then, says Viljoen, the station?s been engaged in a ?beautiful struggle? to make ?top notch? programming to attract viewers. Now, its diverse menu ? from cookery programs to youth debates to news and entertainment ? has fans in ?all walks of life,? says Thafeng.
Program Content Manager Hermina Matlong says her main task is to make TV for ?ordinary? black Sowetans, whether they?re ?filing documents in an office or slaving down a mine.?
One of her favorite programs is Ziyamporama, a show that covers everything that?s ?hip and happening? in Soweto, from concerts to club openings to fashion shows.
?People in Soweto love partying, so we also cover a lot of parties. There are artists from Soweto exhibiting in Europe, and when they come to South Africa, we speak with them and show their art,? Matlong says.
Part of her job is to ?break the lie? that Soweto is just a place of mass poverty. ?Many residents here are rich, at the top scale of society. They have beautiful houses here?and we show some of that because no one else does,? Matlong says.
Yet, despite her station?s focus on Soweto, she says increasing numbers of white South Africans are embracing what was hitherto regarded as a ?totally black? station.
?Lots of white people give us feedback. They even send us messages in Afrikaans! They?re watching us. South Africa is changing; cultures are moving closer together.?
Soweto TV is also not averse to butting heads with the local establishment. It has, for example, offended staunch traditionalists who hold that homosexuality is ?un-African? by broadcasting inserts condemning the ?hate? killings of gay people in South Africa.
Soweto TV?s ascension is happening even as the state broadcaster is experiencing a swift decline. SABC ratings are down. SABC viewers complain about what they see as poor quality programming. South African newspapers are regularly filled with stories of corruption and mismanagement of budgets amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars at the corporation.
The SABC is the subject of regular parliamentary investigatory hearings in South Africa, where the corporation?s woes are examined.
SABC spokespeople acknowledge that the corporation is deep in debt, and is facing its greatest crises ever experienced in post-apartheid South Africa.
Thafeng says, ?Political interference and bureaucracy? are ?murdering? the SABC.
?You can have the greatest idea on earth. But because of bureaucracy, by the time you execute that, someone, somewhere ? like us ? will have already executed that,? he says.