1 July 2010

Comprehensive Policy Review imminent!

From its inception in 2008, the SOS Coalition has called for an overhaul of outdated public service broadcasting policy and legislation. The Coalition argued that the gaps and contradictions in present policy and legislation have contributed to the various crises at the SABC. The Coalition called for a comprehensive policy review leading to strong new laws.

Previous Minister of Communications, Mr.Roy Padayachie, in a meeting held on 2 September 2011, agreed to this review!

The Minister stated that the Review would look at lessons learnt since 1994 and the new imperatives of the digital broadcasting environment. Further, to assist the process he stated that he would establish a panel including local and international experts.

On 24 October 2011 President Zuma reshuffled his Cabinet. Ms. Dina Pule was made the new minister of communications. The SOS Coalition has called on Ms. Pule to continue to prioritise the broadcasting policy review.

A worrying new development is that the Department has just released an amendment to the Electronic Communications Act (4 November 2011). SOS questions why the Department is tabling this Bill now when it has promised a comprehensive broadcasting policy review. Citizens have until 5 December 2011 to send written comments  to Lerato Monareng lerato@doc.gov.za.

See sidebar for a copy of the Bill.

History of calls for the policy review process

Public Service Broadcasting Discussion Document

The Department of Communications released a Public Service Broadcasting Discussion Document in July 2009. It included more than 60 questions on a range of topics including vision, governance and financing issues for public and community broadcasting and also to a lesser extent commercial broadcasting. The Department gave very tight deadlines for comment. The SOS Coalition and others fought for and won an extension to the original deadline for written submissions.

Very soon after the deadline for this submission, in October 2009, the Department then tabled its Draft Public Service Broadcasting Bill. Civil society organisations commented that it didn't appear that the Department had listened to stakeholder inputs on its Discussion Document.

Draft Public Service Broadcasting Bill

The Draft Bill introduced radical new policy changes including scrapping the TV license fee and introducing a broadcasting tax. It called for the setting up of a central Public Service Broadcasting Fund that would, amongst a number of things, fund the SABC and community media. It also called for the entire broadcasting system to be linked to the goals of the developmental state. The "developmental state" was left undefined. Further, it called for the strengthening of the Minister's powers to intervene both in terms of the SABC and community media. Despite repeated attempts to obtain the Department's research that informed this Bill, SOS remained unsuccessful.

SOS, with other stakeholders, submitted a major submission on the 15th of January 2010. The submission included a detailed critique of the Bill. The Coalition argued that a number of the latter's proposals were unconstitutional. Further, SOS argued that it was critical that the Department withdraw the Bill and embark on a comprehensive White Paper policy review process first - or at the very least a review of the Broadcasting White Paper, 1998. (See sidebar for SOS submissions.) To bolster its input, the Coalition included a major research report on broadcasting in South Africa commissioned by the African Governance Monitoring and Advocacy Project (AfriMap). (See side-bar for Afrimap research). The research called for, as one of its key recommendations, a review of South African broadcasting policy.

The Draft Bill then went underground. Then suddenly after months the Department called for all stakeholders who had submitted documents to prepare for oral hearings on the 15th and 16th of November 2010. A number of stakeholders presented. The overwhelming call was for the Minister to withdraw the Draft Bill. Miraculously within a week the Bill was withdrawn! New Minster Padayachie stated that he was prepared to embark on a review of the Broadcasting White Paper, 1998, first before he introduced new legislation. Further, he promised to do a detailed analysis of the SABC's and communtiy media's  financial needs.

SOS debates a new broadcasting vision

To assist with the policy review process, the SOS Working Group has drafted a vision document capturing the Coalition's major policy postions since its inception.  To date the document has gone through many drafts. (See sidebar for details.)