Load shedding and the role of the SABC in ensuring fair election coverage came under the spotlight in Parliament.
The Ministers of Mineral Resources and Energy as well as Communications and Digital Technologies answered questions in the National Assembly.
They were asked about load shedding in the last 16 years and the Public Broadcaster’s role in fair election coverage.
“The SABC is guided by its editorial policy as well as the ICASA regulations which were gazetted 26 February 2024. Regulations state as follows: Each broadcasting service licensee will be expected to treat political parties and independent candidates fairly equitable treatment is unlikely to be achieved in a single programme but can be achieved in a series of programmes. We also want to make the point that each Broadcasting Service Licensee should be consistent in its treatment of contesting political parties and independent candidates of conflicting views. SABC has therefore committed itself to abide by its editorial policy, ICASA regulations and other independent regulations or code of ethics,” Communications Minister Mondli Gungubele explains.
“17 years of load shedding, one of the things you force us to do every time is to accept that building of Medupi and Kusile and Ingula were delayed, because it was declared that the over-supply of electricity was going to be exhausted by 2007. Everybody banked on the private sector to invest in electricity generation, delayed the project and started these projects much later at a rush and a lot of mistakes happened including the design,” says Mineral Resource Minister Gwede Mantashe,.
