Transmitting loyalties: The SABC’s Afrikaans service as a tool for social and technological mobilization in wartime South Africa

This article examines the South African Broadcasting Corporation’s (SABC’s) decision to establish a self-contained Afrikaans radio service in 1938. It argues that this was not a move towards linguistic equality but a calculated political strategy to secure Afrikaner support for the Allied war effort. The article explores the pre-war broadcasting landscape, characterized by English-speaking dominance and the SABC’s failure to adequately serve the Afrikaner population, which left them susceptible to German propaganda from Radio Zeesen. The outbreak of the Second World War served as the critical catalyst, compelling the government to use the new medium of radio to persuade a sceptical and economically disadvantaged populace. Drawing on archival records, annual reports and newspaper clippings, the analysis demonstrates how the SABC deliberately used targeted content and an expanding technological infrastructure to forge a White national consensus. This strategic mobilization not only secured enlistment but also accelerated the country’s industrialization and established a broadcasting model that would later be used to entrench racial and linguistic hierarchies. The article concludes that the story of early Afrikaans radio is a powerful example of how technology, politics and nation-building can intersect in a time of global crisis.