In service of Empire: the South African Broadcasting Corporation during World War II

Abstract

The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) was a microcosm of the wider South African political situation, riven through with political, racial and linguistic divisions. A substantial English-speaking population compacted an alliance with a sizable sector of Afrikaans speakers under the leadership of Jan Smuts to form the United Party, dedicated to a unified, bilingual South Africa with strong ties to the wider British Commonwealth. The largest majority of Afrikaans speakers nurtured a desire for republican autonomy and Afrikaner cultural supremacy. In 1939, both sides of the divide were employed by the SABC, which tended to wait until the waters cleared before making any strong policy decisions on broadcasting either way. Once it became clear that the country would go to war, the SABC threw its weight behind this effort. Programming, including news, was relayed from the British Broadcasting Corporation, keeping South Africans up to date with the war efforts. World War II fundamentally changed social, economic and political relationships on a global scale. René Caprara's foresight of a National Party in power came to pass, and with it, the SABC changed too. But for the war years at least, South African broadcasting had firmly been part of a larger Empire.