BLACK WEDNESDAY, 49 YEARS LATER: CAN THE SABC SURVIVE DEMOCRACY? On 19 October 1977, the apartheid state did what authoritarian regimes always do when they fear the truth. It banned 18 Black Consciousness organisations. It shut down two newspapers, The World and Weekend World. It detained journalists - including Percy Qoboza without trial. That day became known as Black Wednesday. A stark reminder that when the press is silenced, democracy dies. 49 years later, the challenge looks different. The public broadcaster is navigating a difficult funding model, questions about its independence, the task of rebuilding public trust and profound disruption from digital platforms. So we must ask: Can the SABC still fulfil its mandate as the voice of the public? Or has it become a broadcaster in survival mode? The National Press Club in partnership with the University of South Africa (UNISA) and the Qoboza Family, is delighted to invite you to the 16th Percy Qoboza Memorial Lecture. This year's lecture confronts the existential crisis at the heart of South African media. THEME: Public Interest or Public Broadcaster: Can the SABC Survive Democracy? The lecture will be delivered by Honourable Khusela Sangoni Diko, Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Communications and Digital Technologies in Parliament, the very committee tasked with overseeing the future of public broadcasting. This is more than a commemoration. It is a reckoning. So that it will never happen again. EVENT DETAILS: 📅 Wednesday, 21 October 2026 at 18:00 📍 Function Hall, 4th floor, Kgorong Building, Muckleneuk Campus, Preller Street, Muckleneuk Ridge, Pretoria 👔 Dress code: Black with a touch of red (in honour of Black Wednesday) 🗓️ RSVP by 19 October 2026 👉 RSVP HERE: forms.cloud.microsoft/r/fQ1R… Can't join in person? ▶️ Follow the conversation LIVE and catch all our industry conversations on our YouTube channel: National Press Club South Africa - YouTube: youtube.com/@nationalpress… #BlackWednesday #JournalismMatters #PercyQoboza