The civil society initiative to make the SABC a more public broadcaster should be supported, writes Business Day in an editorial. Above all, it is essential to break the destructive cycle that puts the broadcaster at the mercy of political infighting.
Business Day writes in an editorial:
 THE battle for political control of the SABC drags on, with suspended news head Snuki Zikalala reinstated to his position by the board on Monday only to be sent on “special leave†for two weeks, and the man who ousted him, CE Dali Mpofu, determined to forge ahead with a court case aimed at getting his own suspension lifted.
It is all rather exhausting to the man in the street, this tit-for-tat bickering, but it is worthwhile keeping a tab on things because the underlying issues matter a great deal to those who care what sort of state-owned broadcaster we have in this country, and, ultimately, the kind of democracy we live in.
It is also vital for South Africans to understand what has got us into this mess so that we can put pressure on our political representatives to do what is required to avoid running into the same problems in future. A clutch of civic organisations concerned with freedom of expression and the role of the media in supporting democracy has launched a bid to do just that by proposing a new approach to critical issues such as the appointment of the SABC board, the ownership structure and the adoption of a fresh charter that emphasises the broadcaster’s responsibilities to the public rather than to politicians.
The initiative has this news- paper’s wholehearted support, and we urge our readers to throw their weight behind it too, or else the SABC is doomed to be a political pawn in perpetuity.
It is clear that the arm-wrestling going on in the SABC is but an extension of the bigger war being fought within the African National Congress (ANC) between supporters of party president Jacob Zuma and those who remain loyal to President Thabo Mbeki. Zikalala has always been Mbeki’s man, and the board was appointed by the president in controversial circumstances.
Mpofu, on the other hand, jumped ship to the Zuma camp as soon as it became clear which way the wind was blowing, and he now has the support of the majority of ANC MPs in Parliament who followed the same survival route.
With this uneasy balance of power in place, after Mpofu had suspended Zikalala (ostensibly for leaking confidential corporation documents) and the SABC board had in turn had a couple of stabs at suspending Mpofu, it seemed that a stalemate had been reached.
The board did not appear to have a sound legal basis to gun for Mpofu, and Parliament was intent on stamping the new ANC leadership’s authority on the state broadcaster but did not have the powers to replace the board.
This hiatus may not last long, since the ANC is trying to rush an amendment to the Broadcasting Act through the National Assembly that would allow Parliament, rather than the president, to remove the SABC board. Mbeki could delay signing the amendment bill into law for as long as he is president, but that is now a matter of months; in the medium to long term the Zuma faction holds all the aces.
But the bottom line is that there is a need to break this destructive cycle rather than merely allowing control of the SABC to revert to whichever political faction happens to dominate the ruling party. SA deserves better than this, but will not get a genuine public broadcaster until civil society stands together and demands that the politicians take a back seat.THE battle for political control of the SABC drags on, with suspended news head Snuki Zikalala reinstated to his position by the board on Monday only to be sent on “special leave†for two weeks, and the man who ousted him, CE Dali Mpofu, determined to forge ahead with a court case aimed at getting his own suspension lifted.
It is all rather exhausting to the man in the street, this tit-for-tat bickering, but it is worthwhile keeping a tab on things because the underlying issues matter a great deal to those who care what sort of state-owned broadcaster we have in this country, and, ultimately, the kind of democracy we live in.
It is also vital for South Africans to understand what has got us into this mess so that we can put pressure on our political representatives to do what is required to avoid running into the same problems in future. A clutch of civic organisations concerned with freedom of expression and the role of the media in supporting democracy has launched a bid to do just that by proposing a new approach to critical issues such as the appointment of the SABC board, the ownership structure and the adoption of a fresh charter that emphasises the broadcaster’s responsibilities to the public rather than to politicians.
The initiative has this news- paper’s wholehearted support, and we urge our readers to throw their weight behind it too, or else the SABC is doomed to be a political pawn in perpetuity.
It is clear that the arm-wrestling going on in the SABC is but an extension of the bigger war being fought within the African National Congress (ANC) between supporters of party president Jacob Zuma and those who remain loyal to President Thabo Mbeki. Zikalala has always been Mbeki’s man, and the board was appointed by the president in controversial circumstances.
Mpofu, on the other hand, jumped ship to the Zuma camp as soon as it became clear which way the wind was blowing, and he now has the support of the majority of ANC MPs in Parliament who followed the same survival route.
With this uneasy balance of power in place, after Mpofu had suspended Zikalala (ostensibly for leaking confidential corporation documents) and the SABC board had in turn had a couple of stabs at suspending Mpofu, it seemed that a stalemate had been reached.
The board did not appear to have a sound legal basis to gun for Mpofu, and Parliament was intent on stamping the new ANC leadership’s authority on the state broadcaster but did not have the powers to replace the board.
This hiatus may not last long, since the ANC is trying to rush an amendment to the Broadcasting Act through the National Assembly that would allow Parliament, rather than the president, to remove the SABC board. Mbeki could delay signing the amendment bill into law for as long as he is president, but that is now a matter of months; in the medium to long term the Zuma faction holds all the aces.
But the bottom line is that there is a need to break this destructive cycle rather than merely allowing control of the SABC to revert to whichever political faction happens to dominate the ruling party. SA deserves better than this, but will not get a genuine public broadcaster until civil society stands together and demands that the politicians take a back seat.
* This editorial first appeared in Business Day on July 9.
