Media Monitoring Africa (MMA) says it believes that Parliament has extended the deadline for written submissions on the SABC Bill to 16 January because of serious concerns raised by MMA and others about the Bill.
The MMA says Parliament has realised that its original deadline was ridiculously short. MMA director William Bird says they believe the bill does nothing to solve the SABC’s financial problems.
“The bill takes a number of old ideas, particularly the commercial public commercials. It introduces a whole commission board that seems to be utterly pointless. It takes away the head of news and makes that the CEO again, and it also gives the minister extensive powers. So overall, it’s an utter disaster, and to add to that, it does exactly nothing for the SABC’s financial crisis. So, you’ve got a bill that’s not only pointless, but it would fundamentally undermine the independence of the SABC.”
SABC Bill | Parliament urged to process SABC Bill speedily:
