The position of the Communication and Marketing Secretariat of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) was made known this Wednesday, the day after the channel's closure was reported by several Angolan websites, although ZAP, already questioned by Lusa, has not made any official communication on this matter.
On Tuesday, the businesswoman and also daughter of the previous President, Isabel dos Santos, holder of ZAP, but who saw her shareholdings in the operator seized in December 2019 by decision of the Court.
At stake will be the dismissal of more than two hundred workers from Canal ZAP Viva, suspended in Angola since 21 April following a decision by the Ministry of Telecommunications, Information Technologies and Social Communication, which alleged "nonconformities".
For the Communication and Marketing Secretariat, the measure to close the ZAP Viva channel "is fundamentally political and revanchist" and the Government is encouraging the difficulties of families with a "disproportionate" act.
"In a context of extreme difficulties experienced by Angolan families, aggravated by the inability of the executive to implement economic and social measures, aimed at minimizing the suffering of populations and workers, the Government encourages, through a negligent, disproportionate act, in bad faith and lack of solidarity with workers and their dependents, the aggravation of the already difficult situation of families", regrets UNITA.
The ZAP Viva channel, which has been suspended in Angola since April last year, will close and lay off hundreds of employees, being the second channel to close its doors following the ministry's decision, after Vida TV, which ended its activities in July 2021, leaving more than 300 professionals unemployed.
The news was released by the PlatinaLine portal, according to which the workers were fired due to the long period of inactivity of the channel in national territory, since only broadcasting in Portugal and Mozambique was maintained.
