Communications & digital technologies minister Solly Malatsi of the DA has done the right thing to withdraw the fatally flawed SABC bill from parliament, despite the opposition of the ANC’s chair of parliament’s oversight committee.
The withdrawal of the bill, which was introduced by then-minister and now deputy minister Mondli Gungubele, marks yet another point of conflict over legislation within the government of national unity, the others being over the Basic Education Laws Amendment Act and the National Health Insurance Act.
The bill, which was years in the making, would have prolonged the uncertainty over the funding model for the public broadcaster for up to three years while the minister came up with a funding framework — a legislative admission of failure if ever there was one.
The government has failed over many years to come up with a funding model which would put the commercially insolvent SABC on a financially sustainable footing. The reliance on TV licences is not viable as the vast majority of households do not pay for them.
The bill has been roundly condemned by among others the DA, AfriForum, Media Monitoring Africa, the SA National Editors’ Forum and lawyers for both e.tv and MultiChoice. Critics said it did not address the state of the SABC nor its mandate and how it might be funded.
Business Day has previously called for a thorough review of the SABC’s funding model which Malatsi has committed to undertake on an urgent basis. He also rightly criticised the bill for giving the minister influence over board appointments which he said risked eroding the broadcaster’s independence.
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