Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture Zizi Kodwa has urged the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) to reach an agreement with SuperSport to secure sub-licensing of broadcast rights to the highly anticipated 2023 Rugby World Cup.
“I am concerned at how millions of South Africans may be unable to watch the Rugby World Cup should the SABC not be able to broadcast matches in the tournament. My commitment is to give South Africans access to all sports codes,” the Minister said on Monday.
He made these remarks after engaging with Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies Mondli Gungubele and the SABC on the 2023 Rugby World Cup broadcasting rights.
SuperSport had announced a failure to reach an agreement with the SABC on the broadcast rights to the tournament.
The Springboks, who are three-time world champions, will be participating in the 2023 Rugby World Cup taking place in France. The World Cup fixtures run from Friday, 8 September to Saturday, 28 October.
Kodwa urged the SABC to find a solution to the matter, so that the public broadcaster can be able to fulfil its mandate to cover sport of national interest.
“I am hopeful that an agreement will be reached between SABC and SuperSport. Rugby plays a critical role in nation building and social cohesion. It is important that millions of South African can watch the Springboks continuing to lift the nation at the Rugby World Cup,” Kodwa said. – SAnews.gov.za

Tweety
Sunil Gavaskar was out off the first ball of a Test match thrice in his career – Sunil Gavaskar was the first batsman to reach 10,000 Test runs and he ended his career scoring 34 Test centuries. But did you know he was out three times off the first ball of a Test? The bowlers to dismiss him were: Geoff Arnold (Edgbaston, 1974), Malcolm Marshall (Kolkata, 1984) and Imran Khan (Jaipur, 1987).
manmaker
Bails, the horizontal pegs that sit on top of the stumps, are not attached to the top surface. Instead, they rest on shallow grooves on the free ends of the stumps. Bails are critical for determining if the wicket has been put down or broken. This in turn will help identify the status of the batsman, if he has been run out, out bowled, or stumped.