SABC Bill battle heats up
Government ministers who are members of the ANC are fuming at their fellow party member, Deputy President Paul Mashatile, accusing him of backing communications minister Solly Malatsi’s withdrawal of the SABC Bill.
Sunday Times has reported that several sources in the cabinet said that Mashatile’s decision to present the DA minister’s arguments for withdrawing the SABC Bill was interpreted as an expression of support.
Malatsi provided his reasons to Mashatile following a meeting between the two and National Assembly Speaker Thoko Didiza, who has not gazetted the withdrawal in about four months since Malatsi withdrew it.
Mashatile told the cabinet about the meeting and explained the minister gave his reasons and that he was now tabling them before the meeting for guidance and discussion.
Several ANC ministers accused Mashatile of being completely out of order to have “just agreed” with Malatsi withdrawing the bill without “consulting anyone.”
“All hell broke loose. My understanding is that he just presented, he did not necessarily say allow or don’t allow, but some members of the cabinet were unhappy about that,” one source said.
The disgruntled members insisted that Malatsi should have submitted a memo to the cabinet and made the presentation with the reasons. This was eventually set down for the next cabinet meeting.
Mashatile’s spokesperson said he could not comment on cabinet discussions and only said that the process for withdrawing bills started and ended with the cabinet.
Another source at the cabinet meeting told Sunday Times that the DA’s threat to vote against the budget had hardened the attitude of ministers from the ANC toward the DA members.
“Some are even opposing for the sake of opposing,” the source said.
The furore comes after cabinet ministers were stripped of their right to withdraw legislation without first consulting with the president and deputy president.
That decision was made in the fallout of Malatsi withdrawing the SABC Bill in November 2024. However, the DA leaders in the GNU have argued the rule cannot be applied retroactively.
Malati’s decision has also experienced fierce resistance from Parliament’s communications portfolio committee chairperson Khusela Diko, arguing it would be the “death knell” for the SABC.
Diko has also clashed with Malatsi for his view that the South African Post Office should not have a state-sanctioned monopoly on small package deliveries in South Africa and should regain the public’s trust through effective operations.
The SABC Bill is intended to replace the outdated Broadcasting Act of 1999, which was designed to regulate the public broadcaster before the Internet transformed the in-home entertainment and news industry.
The first draft of the bill was published by former communications minister Mondli Gungubele, who is now Malatsi’s deputy, in October 2023.
Shortly thereafter, it was heavily criticised by multiple industry stakeholders for failing to address the SABC’s urgent funding problems.
The broadcaster’s TV licence and advertising revenues have plummeted as South Africans have increasingly migrated from terrestrial linear broadcasting to online-based video streaming services.
The bill provided for a three-year timeframe for the communications minister to develop an alternative funding model to replace the TV licence, which would then still need to be approved by Parliament. The SABC has already been in deep financial trouble for years.
Another point of criticism was that the legilsation would give the communications minister undue influence in the appointment of SABC board members, hurting the editorial independence of the broadcaster.
In his announcement on the withdrawal, Malatsi described the legislation as “totally flawed” and that trying to amend it in Parliament would not be the right course of action.
“Instead, the urgent development and implementation of a sustainable financial model will be prioritised,” the minister said.
Malatsi backed by industry stakeholders
Several major organisations have expressed support for the withdrawal and warned the government that attempts to block the minister’s action were unlawful.
In February, the SOS Coalition, Media Monitoring Africa, the South African National Editors’ Forum, and the Campaign for Free Expression wrote to Didiza, Diko, and President Cyril Ramaphosa to call for the bill’s withdrawal.
The parties expressed deep disappointment at the prolonged delay in gazetting the withdrawal and called the cabinet’s actions unlawful and unconstitutional.
They maintain that National Assembly’s Rule 277, read together with Rule 334, allowed the minister to withdraw a bill before its second reading.
The Speaker is then required to gazette the withdrawal, and neither she nor the cabinet are legally allowed to overrule the decision.
“We urge the Speaker, the Committee and the Cabinet to respect the separation of powers doctrine and proceed with the formal gazetting of the SABC Bill’s withdrawal in line with the Constitution and the Rules of the National Assembly,” the statement added.
“Any continued deliberation of the SABC Bill by the Committee and Parliament in general would be unlawful.”
Loading ...