Upon listening to this week that communications minister Solly Malatsi had withdrawn the basically flawed SABC Invoice, I used to be instantly inclined to welcome the choice publicly.
The invoice had been broadly criticised by main business, civil society and media teams, which had been united in calling for the invoice to be withdrawn and for coverage to be finalised earlier than it was tabled once more.
This piece was initially revealed on Michael Markovitz’s Substack, Media Explorations – learn the unique article right here
I used to be subsequently shocked when the chair of parliament’s portfolio committee on communications & digital applied sciences, Khusela Sangoni Diko, issued a robust assertion condemning the withdrawal of the invoice, and the deputy minister, Mondli Gungubele, took to X on the identical day to criticise the choice of his minister.
For these unfamiliar with the political panorama, Malatsi is a member of the Democratic Alliance, whereas Gungubele and Diko are members of the ANC. Their events are companions within the authorities of nationwide unity.
When it comes to cooperative governance, it will have been preferable for the minister to debate the invoice’s withdrawal along with his deputy and the committee chair earlier than making his choice, despite the fact that he isn’t legally required to take action. On a chat present the next morning, Gungubele was extra sanguine, acknowledging that whereas he thought-about the invoice’s withdrawal “ill-advised”, he would meet with Malatsi for additional discussions and appeared assured {that a} decision may very well be reached.
This case could merely replicate typical coalition politics and point-scoring, however regardless, the general public would anticipate the minister and the legislature to collaborate in an effort to resolve the continued challenges on the SABC and to take care of broader business coverage.
Not appropriate
Curiously, Gungubele, who initially tabled the broadly criticised invoice as minister in October 2023, defended the core components. “The sound monetary mannequin is mostly agreed upon by stakeholders… It simply wants modification,” he mentioned, including that the “mere modification of the invoice inside the parliamentary processes is okay” since “most controversial issues are largely agreed.”
This isn’t appropriate. Whereas most events agree that the present monetary mannequin and tv licence charge system has been damaged for a very long time, there may be actually not settlement on “a sound monetary mannequin” or on “most controversial issues”. As an alternative of taking accountability for the unique invoice he had tabled, Gungubele took the place that parliament may merely repair and amend the invoice.
Learn: Withdrawal of invoice places SABC susceptible to collapse: Diko
Nevertheless, it’s not possible to “repair” a invoice that’s basically a copy-paste from the 1999 statute, with some constitutionally questionable and largely unexplained alterations. The fact is that there’s nonetheless no last white paper on the way forward for the SABC or on the overarching coverage and regulatory framework inside which the SABC operates.
So, what ought to the following steps be? Since coverage ought to all the time information laws, there’s a robust case for tackling each the proposed SABC funding coverage and the audio and audiovisual content material providers (AAVCS) coverage framework collectively in a single white paper. This method has been tried twice earlier than – in 2020 and 2023 – however was seemingly deserted.
Diving a bit deeper, following a finalised white paper, the logical subsequent step could be to concurrently introduce two modification payments: the Broadcasting Act Modification Invoice, remodeling into the SABC Act, and an Digital Communications Act (ECA) Modification Invoice, which might take away the broadcasting providers chapter within the ECA and change it with a chapter on AAVCS.
This sequence would make sure that the ultimate SABC Act aligns with the terminology and coverage framework of the overarching business authorized provisions, together with the up to date definitions within the amended ECA. This method was proposed within the 2020 draft white paper, and now, 4 years on, we actually don’t have the posh of separate coverage and legislative processes for the SABC and AAVCS.
Learn: Malatsi intervenes after Sentech risk to chop SABC transmissions
I’ve spent my justifiable share of time assigning blame for previous coverage failures and missed alternatives. However now’s the time for the minister, parliament and all stakeholders to work collectively and at last modernise South Africa’s coverage and regulation on public service media and AAVCS after a long time of delay.
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