DA wants broadcasting bill scrapped
2011-09-02 21:03
Pretoria - The proposed public service broadcasting bill does not warrant a discussion and should be scrapped, the Democratic Alliance said on Friday.
"In its current form, the bill would taint the independence of the SABC, making the public broadcaster a state-run broadcaster as it was under apartheid," said the DA's communications spokesperson Natasha Michael in a statement.
"We cannot allow the public broadcaster to become a mouthpiece of the governing party."
Michael said she would write to the minister to request that he scrap the proposed bill entirely and focus instead on building a well-functioning and independent SABC.
"Rather than entertaining legislation proposed by the previous minister [Siphiwe Nyanda], Communications Minister Roy Padayachie should focus on capacitating management structures, ensuring a culture of accountability, and rooting out the organisational rot that set in at the public broadcaster under the previous administrations," she said.
Padayachie met with the Support Public Broadcasting Coalition (SOS) in Pretoria on Friday afternoon, to review the public broadcasting policy and the bill itself.
The bill seeks to confer wide-ranging powers on the minister over the affairs of the SABC. Many organisations opposed it saying it makes the broadcaster vulnerable to political interference.
It also proposes a levy of one percent personal income tax on South Africans to fund the SABC, a tax which the DA believed was not feasible, or constitutional as the National Treasury was not consulted.
One of the proposals previously made by the organisations was that government craft a new funding model for the SABC. This suggestion resembles some of those put forward at the ANC's Polokwane conference three years ago.
Padayachie withdrew the controversial bill in November 2010 and promised to launch a comprehensive, public broadcasting policy review process.
On Thursday, SOS said the review was both urgent and important, given the deep-seated problems in the communications sector.
It is understood the coalition would argue who may be nominated to the SABC board and that nominees should not be political office bearers.
The coalition represents the Congress of SA Trade Unions and its affiliates, independent film and television production organisations, non-governmental organisations including the Freedom of Expression Institute, as well as a number of academics and freedom of expression activists.
Another argument tabled was for a "coherent vision" of public broadcasting not affected by commercial and government pressure.
SOS also wants a new charter at the SABC, a complete change of its legal structure, more focus on oversight and a break from its "culture of secrecy" through enforced accountability. Sapa
- SAPA
