Communications Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane says government can draw lessons from policies related to increasing the diversity of media ownership.
This follows Multichoice’s decision to remove the Africa News Network 7 (ANN7) channel from the DSTV bouquet when its contract expires in August 2018.
In a statement, Kubayi-Ngubane says she is disappointed that viewers will not have access to the diversity of voices that ANN7 has contributed to the country’s media landscape.
Multichoice CEO, Calvo Mawela says they are seeking to host a new black-owned news channel.
Meanwhile, the Democratic Alliance (DA) says the MultiChoice press conference has left many questions unanswered. The party says the public needs to know the whole truth about the dealings between Multichoice, ANN7 and the SABC.
The Democratic Alliance says the Icasa probe is important to ensure that those responsible for any wrongdoing are held accountable. It says the matter was never about whether ANN7 should be on air, but about the exchange of money allegedly to influence government policy.
The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) has welcomed Multichoice’s decision to remove the ANN7 channel from the DStv bouquet, but says an agreement should be reached on the future of ANN7’s employees.
Earlier, the Communication Workers’ Union (CWU), general-secretary Aubrey Tshabalala also slammed pay TV giant MultiChoice‘s decision to dump ANN7 saying it has a negative impact on staff of the 24-hour television news channel.
Click to watch a video below:
