SABC chief operations officer Hlaudi Motsoeneng has rescued Soccer Zone and its presenter Minnie Dlamini from been booted.
Motsoeneng confirmed that the axe won’ t fall on the Monday night football highlights show on SABC1 that channel bosses had recommended it be axed along with presenters Dlamini and Thomas Mlambo.
“It didn’t make sense to get rid of a programme that was doing well as compared with other magazine shows. You can’t compare Soccer Zone with Generations and later make a decision that it’s not doing well and the numbers are going down. It’s doing better than SuperSport,” Motsoeneng said.
He said that the SABC did not believe in discarding its talent and that was the reason why Dlamini and Mlambo were spared.
Motsoeneng denied suggestions that he had a soft spot for Dlamini.
“I saved Minnie Dlamini and Soccer Zone, but not because she is a special case or anything. I have saved Bonang Matheba and Robert Marawa before. As the SABC we believe that when our talent is not doing well or have issues, we cannot kick them out. It’s our responsibility as SABC to provide guidance to our talent to ensure that they remain in the stable,” he said.