Media Analyst, Tshamano Makhadi has emphasized the importance of the SABC and its role, but says the public broadcaster needs a turnaround strategy to keep it financially sustainable.
This after Communications Minister, Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams, told Parliament’s Portfolio Committee that National Treasury has rejected the SABC’s turnaround strategy.
SABC Acting Chief Operating Officer, Craig van Rooyen, says the fate of the broadcaster now lies in the hands of the banking sector. He says the Communications Department together with Treasury and the SABC are working to allay any concerns over awarding the SABC a R3.6 billion guarantee.
Makhadi says the closure of the public broadcaster is not an option.
“The SABC is servicing everyone and I am talking about the poorest of the poor. These are people who don’t have the luxury of putting up DSTV. It reaches all South Africans. How do you then assist SABC by making sure that it becomes a sustainable thing? If you are going to bailout the SABC, how far do you go? Is there a turnaround strategy? Can it be tested? Is it something that you can work with? Because you don’t just want to keep putting money into something that is not going to give you anything back. But closing down the SABC, I can tell you as a matter of fact, is not even an option.”
