Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Communications and Digital Technologies is debating the SABC Bill this week. One of the main focuses of the Bill is to determine a more ideal funding model for the public broadcaster.
Members of Parliament on the committee are expected to discuss written submissions on the Bill received from the public and various stakeholders.
Already, some interested entities have expressed concern about the current version of the Bill, saying it does not go far enough in addressing funding challenges at the broadcaster.
The SOS Support Public Broadcasting Coalition, Media Monitoring Africa and the South African National Editors Forum say the SABC Bill is being pushed through but does not adequately address the funding crisis at the organisation.
The Bill currently gives the Communications minister three years to develop a funding framework for the public broadcaster.
National Coordinator SOS, Uyanda Siyotula says, “A funding framework is not a funding model. So that means in three years there is going to be a funding framework that they come up with and then it will take them, I don’t know how much longer to develop a funding model from that funding framework. And we know in the communications sector that they change ministers almost every year. So that just means that the SABC might not even get to have that funding model or whatever they are proposing because the ministers will just keep changing and no one will actually sit and finalise.”
Siyotula says the role of the SABC, as a public broadcaster, is vital to South Africa.
“The SABC is such an important institution that actually aids in deepening our democracy, so the government should actually invest to ensure that the SABC is well funded because we understand the importance of information in the role that the SABC actually plays in uniting the nation. And building that social cohesion, so the fact that the SABC is at this state, as a result of some of the issues that government has actually failed to do.”
The Public Media Alliance, the largest global association of public media organisations provides advocacy, support and knowledge exchange for public media around the world.
CEO: Public Media Alliance, Kristian Porter says, “It’s a media form that is funded by the public, is accountable to the public, and that’s in its ideal form. So an organisation bound by a set of values, and funded by the public, means that you are getting something that is impartial, something that’s universally available, something that has trusted journalism, editorially, independently.”
Porter says with public broadcasting, there is a range of ways to fund the organisation. Be it taxes, licence fees, or advertising, and with this, there will always be some sort of threat of interference. But he says as long as the broadcaster is independent, and holding power to account, it is doing its job. To ensure this, it needs to be protected by regulation and legislation.
“That legislation is crucial to make sure the government doesn’t suddenly interfere with it. Now there’s usually always a loophole, a way in, no matter how small, and that’s something that’s got to be looked at and looked at by the management of the public broadcaster. So there needs to be respect there, but I think what’s also important is that the public needs to defend it as well. So the public broadcaster needs to keep the public on its side to make sure that the government knows, of whatever country, that the government knows, that is interfering with the public broadcaster, they are interfering with democracy,” Porter explains.
The SABC currently has a mixed funding model, which includes a licence fee.
Siyotula says the Bill in its current form continues to subject the SABC to TV licensing, which has not been sustainable.
She has urged the committee to first wait for the completion of the White Paper on Audio and Audiovisual Media Services and Online Content Safety, which is also currently under consideration. Only when this is finalised, she says, can further discussions on the SABC’s funding model continue.
The committee will meet on Tuesday, to deal with the matter.
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