SOS: Support Public Broadcasting Petition
16 July 2010
The “SOS: Support Public Broadcasting” Coalition
Urgent –Time needed for meaningful consultations on new broadcasting and regulation law – the ICASA Amendment Bill
The civil society coalition SOS representing trade unions, NGOs, CBOs, industry bodies, academics and others calls on citizens to protect independent broadcasting and telecommunications in South Africa.
The Department of Communications has drafted a new Bill that gives the Minister significant new powers to direct and intervene in the work of the Independent Regulator – the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA). The overall impact is that independent broadcasting in the country is potentially under threat.
As an important starting point the SOS Coalition believes that as citizens we need to be consulted. The Department has given stakeholders 30 days to comment with a deadline of 25 July 2010. But this time period is wholly inadequate and will in particular impact the effective participation of poorer, more marginalised civil society stakeholders.
The Coalition thus urgently requests the Department to:
- Organise a number of provincial consultation sessions with stakeholders.
- Shift the deadline for comment to the very earliest the end of August 2010 to ensure substantive, meaningful inputs.
Please support us by signing your name and please do send your comments.
People who have joined the petition
| Name | Organisation | Comment |
| Add your name here by clicking the form below | ||
| Richard | n/a | Please give us more time to make meaningful inputs! |
| Kate Skinner | SOS | We need to have more time for meaningful consultations. Real participatory democracy is about ensuring real input from all stakeholders and communities on the ground. |
| Martin Jansen | Workers World Media Productions | We call on the DOC to make more time available for discussion amongst our constituency - the labour movement and working class communities. |
| William Bird | Media Monitoring Africa | Please drop the Bills - the Public Service Broadcasting Bill and the ICASA Amendment Bill and initiate a full policy review. There is too much at stake to risk quick fix drastic Bills that also seek to take control of two public institutions away from parliament and the general public and place them in the hands of the minister and the DOC. |
| Charley Lewis | Wits University | Ramming through amendments that fundamentally undermine the independence of iCaSA without proper consultation and stakeholder input is simply unacceptable... |
| Msawenkosi Nikani | RSA Citizen | It is absolutely wrong to move on a quick-fix approach, It is tantamount to sabotage to our democratic state project. |
| Faiza Abrahams-Smith | MISA-SA | More time is needed for the public and stakeholders to engage in discussions and to raise questions for clarity, before final inputs. MISA-SA believes this is crucial as to save guard and ensuring the independence of the regulator especially from political interference. |
| Siphiwe Segdi | Freedom of Expression Network | Allow for extensive public participation,remember that this is a public institution, extend the deadline. The public needs more time. |
| Mark Weinberg | Alternative Information Development Centre | We need a full policy review, not amendments and rushed bills that undermine the independence of media and regulators - especially in the environment where even COSATU is calling for action on alleged abuse of power of the Minister of Communications. |
| Angela van Schalkwyk | Screen Africa | Surely, industry stakeholder imput on the Icasa Admendment Bill is crucial. This unseemly haste to pass the Bill, indicates that the hidden agenda is to provide the Minister of Communications with more powers. Extend the deadline to remove suspicion of political interference. |
| Janeske Botes | Wits University | Let the people speak. |
| Toby Mendel | Centre for Law and Democracy | Amendments to laws which impact on fundamental rights - in this case the right to freedom of expression - should be subject to extensive consultation. A one month consultation period for relatively complex amendments such as are being proposed here is not sufficient. |
| Tendayi Sithole | Freedom of Expression Institute | The one month deadline is impractical and the extension is necessary to make the final inputs. |
| Rehad Desai | Independent Producers Organisation | Real and meaningful particpation in legislation can only make our legal framework and democracy more robust. |
| Marc Schwinges | Documentary Filmmakers Association of South Africa (DFA) | While DFA recognise that there are flaws in the current ICASA Act, and that the Amendment Bill makes several good suggestions to streamline ICASA, we are concerned about the independence of ICASA as a result of the bill, and the un-presidented powers of the Minister of Communications. We as Independent Documentary Filmmakers support SASFED and SOS in their call for an extension in the time given for comment to this Amendment Bill as we have only begun to interrogate it. |
| Wendy Venter | OSCASA | |
| Carlynn de Waal-Smit | PMA | Please consult in depth with the industry players as this affects our livlihood. We are all willing to work together for the benefit of all. Can we have some transparent structure and processes please. |
| Thandi Brewer | Writers' Guild Of South Africa | The Writers' Guild of South Africa fully support SASFED and SOS in their call for an extension. This Amendment Bill has wide reaching consequences that impact on the whole of South Africa. |
| Camilla Coutts | University of the Witwatersrand | This action is in direct violation of freedom of expression |
| Ivan Douwes | South African Public United | All and any attempts to control or limit our constitutional right to freedom of expression will be met with outright revolt from all corners of the South African Public. |
| Justine Limpitlaw | There are many very good aspects to this Bill which should improve ICASA's functioning. But the Constitutional issues are serious and represent a major departure from International best practice. | |
| Jeanette Minnie | Zambezi FoX: International Freedom of Expression and Media Consultant | South Africa has a proud liberation struggle history which, among others, brought about and independent public broadcaster (the SABC) and an independent regulator (ICASA). During the early and mid 1990's South Africa was a world leader in making new law and policy to ensure that governments and political parties would no longer control these independent public institutions, and that they would function under the control of persons nominated by the public and who would function in the broad public interest. The Public Service Broadcasting Bill and the ICASA Amendment Bill reverse these gains by profoundly underming the independence of these institutions. Rushing these bills through without an extensive policy review and without sufficient time for public comment adds fuel to the perception that the ANC is reversing its liberation policies and returning the airwaves to state control. |
| Frederic Egersdorfer | Private | Minipulation of the press could be detrimental to the country's freedom of speech. |
| Julia van Zyl | RSA Citizen | Please protect independent broadcasting. |
| Lucilla Blankenberg | Community Media Trust | |
| Jayshree Pather | Development and Media Consultant | The implications of the proposed Bill are wide and far-reaching and there needs to be enough time for public engagement and input |
| Marina J. Mayer | RSA Citizen | Alongside compromising the independence of the national broadcaster, the proposed amendments flout international best practice in relation to regulators: to regulate effectively, regulatory bodies must e independent of the state and the entities that they regulate. Government cannot be referee and player. |
| Sheila Gqweta | Freedom of Expression Inst. | Since the public is large, the extension is non negotiable. Please extend the deadline. |
| Dan Jawitz | Independent Producers Organisation | The bill in it's present form is unacceptable to the Independent Producers Organisation (IPO) for many reasons and we support the call by SOS to extend the deadline. |
| Dan Jawitz | Independent Producers Organisation | The bill in it's present form is unacceptable to the Independent Producers Organisation (IPO) and we support the call by SOS to extend the deadline on submissions to allow us time to respond. |
| Khalid Shamis | SASFED/IPO/DFA | Give us the time needed to ensure fair engagement, discussion and expression. Respect us as we respect you |
| Kali van der Merwe | other-wise media | Why give such a short time to respond to something that has wide reaching public concern. This gives no time for broad consultation. |
| Jessie Lazar Knott | CCS Visiting Scholar | |
| Rian Geldenhuys | Independent Producer | I kindly request some further time to study the Bill. In it's current form, it seems to be highly dangerous to implement. Rather spend the time to inspire the current ICASA personnel to greater heights. |
| Y'ael Shirley | Visceral Flame Fire Performers | |
| Marc Schwinges | Underdog Productions | In my capacity as Producer for Underdog Productions I strongly appose the time which we have been given to respond to such a bill, and the nature of the proposed bill itself. |
| Rory Sheldon | n/a | |
| Naashon Zalk | Naashon Zalk media | |
| Yvette Lambrecht | Substance Films | |
| Franz Kruger | Wits Radio Academy | The country needs an independent, effective regulator. It's a complex arena, though, and changes need to be carefully considered. The current draft has raised concerns. The process would benefit by additional time. |
| Tina-Louise Smith | Free Range Films | DFA | For a meaningful law we need time. The DOC minister, advisers and staff need to approach this as something they would be able to accept in a time when they are not in government. |
| Candice Prinsloo | Freelance Filmmaker | Let's not retreat into a position which was fought against... |
| Justin Slack | RSA citizen | |
| Anthony Irving | IMAGEWORKS | The independent industry can no longer afford the mismanagement and corruption in our public broadcaster. It is crucial this issue is properly dealt with - please delay the Bill so that meaningful inputs can be made. |
| tim wege | Four Corners Media | We need more time. |
| Lucky Mathunjwa | Independent poducer | |
| Nontsasa Memela | Media Development and Diversity Agency | We need more time to go through the whole Bill. |
| Raymond Louw | SANEF | As Deputy Chair of the SANEF Freedom Committee I endorse SOS's request to get the deadlines for this submission shifted. |
| Simon Taylor | periphery films | As an independent film maker I feel best represented by SASFED and SOS. They are informed by process that has worked well in other democracies please enjoy their full participation in getting the bill right. |
| Ayesha Kajee | Freedom of Expression Institute (FXI) | The Bill has potentially serious connotations with respect to freedom of the media and freedom of expression, which are enshrined in South Africa's constitution. By significantly diluting the authority and independence of ICASA,which was set up in the immediate post-apartheid landscape to be an INDEPENDENT PUBLIC BODY, the bill raises the spectre of a return to apartheid-era collusion between state and broadcaster. If ICASA becomes subordinate to the Minister of Communications, political manipulation at the whim of the executive will undoubtedly follow. This scenario, undoubtedly unconstitutional, would certainly work against the public interest and unnecessarily strengthen executive influence. |
| Francois Verster | Undercurrent Film & Television | |
| Joanne Corrigall | Dept of Health, Western Cape | Granting additional time for comments and broad consultation will ensure the broad adoption of and support for the new legislation |
| Karen Landsberg | Freelance DOP | |
| Alette Schoon | Rhodes University | The future of the SABC, ICASA and the expanding new broadcasting terrain of mobile and Internet based broadcasting need to be looked at as a whole through a proper white paper process with wide consultation. Pushing through legislation that dilutes the freedoms we have fought for so hard will just undermine public broadcasting. |
| Jane Duncan | Rhodes university | A regressive and counterproductive step. |
| Prinola Govenden | MMA | There has been a critical need for some time now, for a substantial focus on strengthening our severely weakened regulator, ICASA. A proper policy review process is imperative to this. Let us respect and do justice to our our constitution, democracy and media independence by not "rushing" this critical process. Let us not go backwards in our democracy, and go back to the days of Apartheid, "government" control of the media. |
| PATRICK PAKI | DFA | Local productions shoud be the first priority to OUR BROADCASTING.. |
| Wendy Venter | ColtTalent JHb | |
| Dr. Michael Eckardt | Universiteit van Stellenbosch | Ons het meer tyd nodig! |
| Dr Janina Wozniak | NMMU | |
| Gary Smith | Limelite Casting CT | |
| Lianne van Leeuwen | NMMU Port Elizabeth | Do not forget about the Freedom of Press! |
| Michele Brandenburger | Class Act Productions | |
| Kie-Mari Landman | NMMU | Good things come to those who wait... Ons het asb meer tyd nodig!!! |
| Siphokazi Mdidimba | NMMU | This bill NEEDS to be perused! WE NEED MORE TIME! |
| Prof Joh Froneman | North-West University, Potchefstroom | Icasa should promote freedom and diversity, not government's dubious agenda. That's why there is an I in Icasa. |
| Albert van Houten | The future of public Broadcasting is at stake. Who in their right mind would think that a return to pre-democratic practices with regards to broadcasting would be the way forward? | |
| Jennifer Radloff | Association for Progressive Communications (APC) | More time, more transparency, more inclusivity, accountability and more discussion on these critical issues! |
| Laura Fletcher | Media Monitoring Africa | Independent regulation is a must not an choice! |
| Tumelo Tshabalala | MISA-SA | More time is needed for the public and stakeholders to engage in discussions and to raise questions for clarity, before final inputs. MISA-SA believes this is crucial as to save guard and ensuring the independence of the regulator especially from political interference. |
| Laura Knox | Media Monitoring Africa | |
| Richard Young | n/a | Drop the bill |
| Leonard Cilliers | Onscreen Castings | |
| Michael Aldridge | CTV | What South Africa needs is a sound, independent regulator that can regulate use of the airwaves in the best interests of the people of South Africa. |
| Michelle Nienhuis | Cape Town TV | |
| Jeanne Prinsloo | Journalism & Media Studies, Rhodes | Participatory democracy requires the thoughtful input of concerned citizens and stakeholders. Such input requires time to engage with the issues in order to give considered input. The onus is on the Minister, the DG and parliament to ensure this. |
| Sandra Roberts | Media Monitoring Africa | |
| Wellington Radu | Democracy does not only mean the existence of universal suffrage. It is also about citizens contributing meaningfully to the making of rules that govern them. Even more critical in democratic societies is for the powers that be to take the citizens’ contributions seriously. So please extend the deadline and also take our contributions on board. | |
| Asanda Mlahleki | NMMU | |
| Michelle Hardy-Berrington | NMMU | |
| Prakashnee Govender | COSATU | |
| Laddi Bosch | CMT | |
| Rene Smith | Citizen of RSA | |
| Tracy Walton | Colt Talent CPT | |
| Prof Pieter Fourie | Dept of Communication Science | |
| Marion Walton | University of Cape Town | |
| Ingrid Gavshon | DFA | |
| Lendyl Naicker | Cape Town Television | |
| Lesley Anne Johannes | Cape Town TV | |
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| Richard | test | |