CC image courtesy of Zaian.
South African opposition party the Democratic Alliance (DA) has said amendments to the Broadcasting Act as proposed by communications minister Faith Muthambi will turn the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) into a mouthpiece for ruling party the African National Congress (ANC).
The Sunday Times reported yesterday the minister had plans to centralise control of the SABC in her office.
The report documents Muthambi’s plans to remove parliament’s right to get rid of SABC board members, giving power to the minister, as well as reducing the size of the board from 12 to five members.
“Giving the minister absolute power to hire and fire the SABC board will make the board beholden to the governing party, instead of the people of South Africa. A smaller board will also be easier for the minister to manipulate and control,” said Gavin Davis, DA shadow minister of communications.
The DA said the proposed revisions make it clearer than ever the ANC is wanting to set up a propaganda ministry to “force feed South Africa a ‘good story’ that reflects positively on [Zuma’s] record”.
“We are yet to see how the new Department of Communications will function and precisely what its mandate is. But, already, the prognosis for media freedom is not looking good,” said Davis.
Davis said the DA would fight the move, which it believes would give the minister editorial and political control of the SABC.
