90 Plein Street and the ANC’s 2017 Nasrec Conference – Educational Entertainment Television or State Capture Conspiracy?

Abstract

ABSTRACT In 2012, The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) Education launched 90 Plein Street, an entertainment education (EE) television series whose mission was to offer education in democracy. The series followed in the footsteps of the highly successful EE predecessors like Yizo Yizo and Soul City which delivered education through highly compelling drama format based on raw South African social realism. While most of the seasons of this drama followed the SABC’s tried and tested approach to educational television, the last season, which was commissioned in the months preceding the 2017 ANC Elective Conference, bore very close resemblance to the political campaign themes of the faction associated with former President Jacob Zuma. Through the former president’s wife, the faction sought to create an alternative avenue for Zuma to continue access to state resources and maintain his influence. This article seeks to critically assess this state-funded drama to answer the question of whether and in what ways themes favourable to forces of “state capture” were encoded in the series. The article seeks to explore the fine line between educational television and political interest by paying attention to discursive and social practices that form the important context within which the drama was produced and broadcast.