The Media Online’s weekly round up of people, account and business moves in media.
This week’s BIG move: SABC appoints veteran newsroom leader as group executive: news and current affairs
The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) has appointed veteran newsroom leader Deidre “Dee” Uren, as Group Executive: News and Current Affairs, effective 1 April 2026.
Uren has been serving in the role in an acting capacity since 1 January 2025, during which time she has provided steady leadership to the SABC’s News and Current Affairs division, while overseeing key editorial and operational priorities for the public broadcaster. Her appointment follows a comprehensive recruitment process.
SABC Group CEO Nomsa Chabeli said Uren’s appointment provides continuity of leadership for the division during an important period for both the organisation and the country:
“Deidre has consistently demonstrated steady, principled, and capable leadership of the SABC newsroom at a time when the role of trusted journalism and editorial integrity has never been more critical. Her deep institutional knowledge, commitment to public-interest reporting, and ability to lead with clarity in a complex and evolving media landscape position her strongly for this role. Her appointment not only provides important continuity for the division but also reinforces our commitment to a newsroom that is credible and impactful. I am confident that under her leadership, the SABC will continue to strengthen its position as a trusted source of news and a cornerstone of our democracy.”
With more than three decades of experience at the SABC, Uren has played a central role in newsroom leadership and the delivery of major national broadcast coverage moments, including multiple national election cycles and other significant national events where the public broadcaster’s role in informing the nation is most visible.
People moves
Infobip South Africa appoints Lauren Potgieter as new country manager
Infobip South Africa, a communication platform for businesses and a leader in omnichannel customer engagement, has appointed Lauren Potgieter as country ,anager in a strategic move to accelerate growth and strengthen its position as a trusted partner in digital transformation.
With over 26 years of experience across business process management, customer experience, and global operations, Potgieter brings a strong track record in driving operational excellence and scalable growth. In his new role, he will focus on unlocking value through omnichannel engagement, Artificial Intelligence (AI)-enabled automation, and enhanced partner collaboration.
Potgieter says his passion lies in helping businesses translate customer engagement into real growth.
His career highlights include leading organisations through expansion, turnaround, and capability building. Potgieter’s core strengths lie in client relationship management, strategic planning, business development and operational transformation.
Sol Plaatje University hosts landmark investiture of Thebe Ikalafeng
Sol Plaatje University hosted the landmark investiture of Thebe Ikalafeng rooted in African tradition, heritage and the values of Solomon Tshekisho Plaatje in Kimberley on Wednesday.
The Chancellor’s ceremonial robe, unveiled at Ikalafeng’s investiture, has been specially reimagined by Thebe Magugu — the Kimberley-born designer and Africa’s first LVMH Prize winner — making it both a tribute to global African brilliance and a celebration of tradition.
Far from a conventional academic ceremony, the investiture was reimagined as a national cultural moment that places African identity, heritage, and community at its centre — in honour of the university’s namesake, Solomon Tshekisho Plaatje in the 150th year of his birth.
Under the theme “Light from Africa: Building on Legacy, Advancing Knowledge and Securing the Future,” the programme unfolded across landmark Kimberley sites with historical ties to the Chancellor, Solomon Plaatje and the University.
Business moves
Kfm 94.5 partners with LUMENOCITY for Cape Town’s biggest light art festival
LUMENOCITY, Cape Town’s groundbreaking, new celebration of light, art and immersive storytelling, has announced Kfm 94.5 as its official media partner. The festival will now be presented in association with Kfm 94.5, bringing together two powerful cultural platforms to illuminate the Mother City like never before.
Set to take place in the iconic Company’s Garden from 9-12 April, LUMENOCITY will transform the city into an open-air gallery of light, featuring world-class installations, projection mapping and interactive works by leading local artists.
Through this partnership, Kfm 94.5 will play a central role in amplifying the festival across the Western Cape – connecting audiences to the experience through not only live reads but on-air storytelling, presenter integration, ticket giveaways, and live broadcasts from the festival itself.
The partnership reflects a strategic collaboration between media, culture, and brand – with CSA x dentsu X playing key roles in shaping and delivering the platform.
Primedia Outdoor joins the State of Women Address
WomenCan, a pioneering platform for women’s empowerment, championing bold leadership, meaningful impact on gender equality, and transformative stories that inspire change across every field, will be hosting its second annual The State of Women Address (SOWA) on the 28 March 2026 at Mercedes-Benz Sandton.
SOWA is a movement that serves as a vital mechanism for shifting prevailing narratives surrounding women’s rights and tackling the multi-faceted issues that deeply affect women today with the aim of creating a society where women thrive.
“We want leaders to critically analyse their own assumptions, biases, and privileges, while actively creating spaces for marginalised voices. Our collaborative efforts unite stakeholders with a shared mission to re-imagine and accelerate gender equality. Through our partnerships with Primedia Outdoor, the Black Distributors Trust and Sanlam, we can amplify marginalised voices, bridge gaps in understanding, and co-create strategies that address the systemic roots of gender disparities,” says Tumi Mthembu, Founder of WomenCan.
WildEarth TV takes Africa to the world with remarkable growth
WildEarth TV continues its remarkable ascent as the “world’s largest safari vehicle” and premier LIVE African wildlife channel.
As of March 2026, the platform has achieved 8.6 million+ watch hours in just the last 30 days and now engages over 500,000 daily unique viewers across its global network of carriage partners. This momentum is powered by over 10 hours of fresh, live content generated every single day.
South African audiences—the cornerstone market— have surged by 41.9% in the past 90 days, with the most-watched programme —SafariLIVE Sunset— delivering record concurrent peaks of 193,970 across DSTV (Channel 183) and Openview (Channel 115).
Boosting support and safety on Meta’s apps With AI
Meta is rolling out the Meta AI support assistant globally on Facebook and Instagram, providing 24/7 help for account issues like updating your password and settings for your profile.
Over the next few years, the company will deploy more advanced AI systems across its apps to transform its approach to content enforcement, more accurately finding and removing severe content violations like scams and illegal content, so people see less of them.
Meta has launched new AI tools for support and content enforcement on its apps to make them work better for users. As technology advances, Meta is applying AI in more ways so users can get reliable, action-oriented help when they need it, and Meta can catch more severe violations like scams faster and more accurately, with fewer over-enforcement mistakes.
The Meta AI support assistant is a tool designed to provide reliable, 24/7 support for nearly any support issue at any time. Now, it’s being rolled out in countries and territories where Meta AI is currently available on the Facebook and Instagram apps for iOS and Android, and within Help Centre on Facebook and Instagram on desktop, with even more capabilities and ways to help.
Hayo launches voice, messaging and digital solutions across Rwanda
TTRO and UBU launch Red Horizon
The Training Room Online (TTRO), a leader in experiential and simulation-based education, and UBU, an AI-powered 3D immersive platform, have officially launched Red Horizon, an AI powered 3D strategic simulation designed to transform how organisations, universities, and leadership teams learn, practice decision-making, and build future-ready skills.
Red Horizon combines TTRO’s decades of experience in physical simulations and experiential learning with UBU’s immersive metaverse platform to create a fully interactive, role-based learning environment. Here, participants get to step into simulated organisational roles and navigate high-stakes scenarios in real time – under the guidance of RedBrain, an AI Chairman that evaluates and gives feedback on their decisions across strategy, risk, people, innovation, and performance.
This new platform signals a significant evolution in education and professional development, moving from passive instruction to immersive, data-driven experiential learning.
AEPC Visual Arts call for proposals now open: Africa-Europe partnerships for culture
Making moves
SABC at the forefront of human rights broadcasting
With the SABC embracing the social objectives of broadcasting and amplifying Human Rights broadcasting, this is not just a technical exercise, it is more of a social commitment. There has been a lot of innovations and new technology that have shaped a new way of people consuming TV/radio broadcasting or even content at large.
The public broadcasting media still needs to keep its true essence of broadcasting which lies in its ability to create participatory spaces where citizens can express their views, engage in public debate, and remain informed about their society. Other mediums might offer entertainment and the SABC still carries a role of educating and informing over and above entertainment.
This year the SABC’s mission is interlinked with the celebration of 30 years of South Africa’s Constitution under the theme Bill of Rights at 30: Making Human Dignity Real. SABC, as the public broadcaster, is at the forefront of strengthening this milestone by ensuring that the principles of democracy, equality, and human dignity are not only remembered but actively lived through its programming. This is not just a celebration, but a commemoration, one the SABC is honoured to uphold.
Guided by its values of respect, trust, integrity, and quality, SABC demonstrates that broadcasting is not just about technology but about the people. All the programmes of the SABC are carefully commissioned and designed to uphold dignity, foster inclusivity, and strengthen democracy.
