Date: 26/06/2003
Source: Mpumalanga Provincial Government
Title: Mahlangu: Provincial hearing on SABC's draft editorial policies


WELCOMING REMARKS BY PREMIER NJ MAHLANGU AT THE SABC'S EDITORIAL POLICIES PUBLIC FORUM MEETING, Witbank, Thursday, 26 June 2003

Master of Ceremonies,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen:

Good morning and thank you for inviting me here today.

Let me first and foremost welcome you all to this wonderful province.

I'm pleased to be a guest of the SABC, an organisation that strives to be the Pulse of Africa's Creative Spirit. For the past few weeks I have had an opportunity to go through your Draft Editorial Policies document and must admit that I was impressed with the noble ideals contained therein.

This prompted me to read up on your vision and mission statement as well as your values statement. There is a lot of similarity in your values and those things that we as government hold dear. We pride ourselves in being a government that listens to and learns from the people.

I see you too have put the values of talking, listening and actually hearing what the people say high on your list of priorities. I must concede that your draft editorial policy document is largely unambiguous and contains bold promises and commitments, which can only be beneficial as we march towards the creation of a free society.

Indeed the wide-ranging policies on editorial Independence, nation building, diversity, human dignity, accountability and transparency provide a clear guideline on what to expect from the SABC as it evolves into a truly public and commercial broadcaster. Time does not allow me to comment on each of the issues raised.

I would therefore like to confine my brief comments to issues of editorial independence and diversity. It is encouraging to note that the SABC promises to broadcast in all official languages as well as to extend broadcasting infrastructure throughout the country. As government we welcome this decision.

Our meeting here today sets out something we all know instinctively. In order to be a government that responds to the needs of the people, we need to go out and meet the people, talk to them, listen to what they say and actually hear what they say. That is the only way in which we can build a truly democratic, non-racial, non-sexist and prosperous country.

In the same way if the SABC has to meet its challenge of assisting in the building of a new nation and a strong democracy, it must equip people with knowledge to make informed decisions about their lives. The core objective of a public broadcasting service, therefore, is to keep the population critically informed and educated on provincial, national and international issues.

I believe I am right when I say one of the issues that you expect me to comment on is that of editorial responsibility and upward referral.

I have no difficulty with the "daily upward referral practice" as long as it involves matters that are critical to national security or that may lend the SABC into deep trouble for instance. As long as it does not curtail the independence of the news gatherers, I have no problem with it.

Therefore the question that should be debated is to what extent these measures might curtail what the Corporation seeks to protect. Editorial decisions rest with the editorial staff.

Let me talk about diversity. In a society such as ours, it is important to state that diversity is an issue no broadcaster - public or commercial - can afford to ignore.

We live in a fascinating, fast changing world in which the traditional institutions in both the commercial and public sectors are struggling to keep up with the enormous pace of change. Change, which is driven by a number of factors such as technological, economic, cultural and societal factors. One consequence of this speed of change is that all our audiences are more diverse in every sense of the word.

The old idea of a homogeneous mass audience who turn onto a particular channel and stayed with you for an evening is long gone. In a world of hundreds of channels any audience loyalty has to be earned. Ethnic diversity is one of the central defining characteristics of modern South Africa - particularly among the young. In this context one of the great dangers for any broadcaster is not to notice as your audience grows away from you in ideas and attitudes.

Let us accept that today's youth are already some way ahead of us in as far as ethnic diversity is concerned. For young people in this country today multi-culturalism is not about political correctness, it is simply a part of the furniture of their everyday lives.

It just is in the way it wasn't when I was growing up in Middelburg fifty odd years ago.

If you fail to keep up with the changes happening in our society you will become increasingly irrelevant and there is no greater danger for any broadcaster than that.

But for public service broadcasters there is an extra imperative. You must look hard at how you reflect true diversity on air. This is not about political correctness or quotas - it's about artistic and creative integrity, about depicting the changing South Africa as it is and as people recognise it to be. It's actually about making better programmes, which connect with all audiences.

Indeed the process you bare engaging in here today is not an event. It will take years to perfect. But we have made a start and all of us will be the richer for it. I know that the SABC can and will stand up to the challenge in relation to building a new country and democracy.

I thank you.

Issued by Mpumalanga Provincial Government
26 June 2003