Date: 23/10/2002
Source: Ministry of Communications
Title: Matsepe-Casaburri: Tabling of the Broadcasting Amendment Bill, NA
SPEECH BY THE MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS, DR IVY MATSEPE-CASABURRI, DURING THE TABLING OF THE BROADCASTING AMENDMENT BILL, National Assembly, 23 October 2002
The Bill that we present here today was debated in the wake of the celebration of Press Freedom Day in our Country on the 19th of October. This 25th year commemoration of a very dark day in our country, when a number of black news organisations were closed down and their members arrested because the apartheid government did not like their views, is a stark reminder of what we, as a government should never repeat and what we, as South Africans, should never again accept.
Perhaps it was opportune that this Bill was debated at a time when we were reflecting on where we come from and contemplating the future of our young democracy. The debate on this Bill and the commemoration helped us reaffirm that media is fundamental to democracy and that a free media is an imperative.
The Bill we are presenting was first received with some hysteria and unfounded and/or misguided accusations of intentions of government to control particularly the public broadcaster and ride roughshod over the constitution and the rights it confers on those in the media. Nothing could be further from the truth. We introduced the Bill very conscious of the fact that it will spark debate about broadcasters' role and social obligations, a debate we had tried unsuccessfully to engage in with the SABC for two years.
Our experience from the complaints we often receive from members of the house and members of the public, both urban and rural, both those highly literate and with access to numerous media and those illiterate and with limited access to media except radio, shaped this Bill. We were painfully aware of how media and SABC in particular, had sold us an "expert" by the name of Eugene Nyathi - in fact, I was reminded that Nyathi was an SABC creation during my chairpersonship of that organisation.
More recently, two other issues of how broadcasters can unleash havoc on the public were brought to my attention. A radio station, in a province I shall not name, had a weekly programme in which an "expert" in witchcraft was presented to the public only to be told by the so-called "expert's" psychiatrist that he is actually a mental patient. I asked myself why and how we could unleash such insanity on our unsuspecting public (excuse the pun). In another province, a weekly programme had an internecine war fanned between two people - one a mayor of a town and the other the radio programme presenter. The unsuspecting public were not informed that the presenter was in fact the former mayor of that town and unhappy about having been ousted. Such abuse of our airwaves was not intended by the rights of freedom of expression.
What appeared as an extreme position of government in the Bill was intended to have all South Africans, and indeed this parliament focus their attention on the challenge of accountability and responsibility in broadcasting, cognisant of the diversity of the experiences of all people of this nation.
After the initial reaction, this nation and the portfolio committee, through the newspapers, radio programmes and the debates of honourable members of this House, were able to focus on the real issues rather than the imagined ones that arose out of a lack of reading and/or understanding of the Bill.
The debates allowed us to deal with the challenges confronting South Africa, such as:
a) Unequal access to TV broadcasting in the languages of the majority;
b) Lack of sufficient local content in programming that reflects South Africa and a shared vision of a diverse population;
c) Balancing the right to freedom of expression with the other rights enshrined in the Bill of Rights and the Constitution;
d) What Joe Thloloe, a respected journalist called "the deteriorating standards in newsrooms". He asks us to accept this fact because a large corps of experienced journalists has been lost to the trade. He says, "With the influx of junior reporters the craft has lost its stature". (Sowetan 18/10/02). In this vein, another journalist wrote that "Journalists must use analytical tools to verify information and get their story from primary sources.... rather than replacing this with telephone and fax journalism. He complains that there is no verification (K Mamaila - Sowetan 18/10/02);
e) The lack of news editorial, programming, language and other policies, that inform/shape the content of the national broadcaster and/or lack of knowledge of any existing policies by the public;
f) The incomplete debate and poorly articulated discourse on national interest; and
g) The funding of the public broadcaster without compromising its independence.
We are happy now that finally, common sense and reason have prevailed over posturing, political rhetoric, sound bites and other opportunistic machinations, therefore, allowing us to reach consensus on a wide range of issues pivotal to the development of the broadcasting system.
As the debate of this Bill proceeded, it became quite clear that the discussions became less political and more about what is good for this new democracy in the context of a society that has not yet achieved what is called national consensus. There developed cohesion and a respect for different views. I wish to thank all involved for this co-operation.
This Bill brings greater clarity by categorising different licences in accordance with services provided. We wish to thank those that made the technical inputs such as Multichoice, M-net, Orbicom, Sentech and Telkom for their valuable inputs in this regard.
The Bill also provides for the implementation of the conversion and corporatisation of the SABC; it includes a charter as well as accountability and compliance mechanisms. It strengthens the role of the publicly selected board in terms of governance and of Icasa in terms of regulation, licensing and monitoring.
To ensure delivery by the public broadcaster on its mandate, it is now required in law that it prepares and submits to the Regulator, policies that will ensure compliance with the Regulators' Code of Conduct and its licence conditions as well as the objectives contained in the Broadcasting Act.
The Board must ensure public participation in the development of the policies and institute regular and effective means to solicit public opinion about its programming and give due consideration to that public input. The SABC must also develop its own Code of Conduct to ensure that the Corporation complies with the constitutional principle of equality and equitable treatment of all people, languages and the rights of all to information. SABC must strive to provide for a wide range of audience interests, beliefs and expressions and a high standard of accuracy, fairness and impartiality must be adhered to.
The Bill now vests the regional services with the SABC as entities under full control of the SABC Board. These additional television services that will broadcast regionally in languages appropriate to the two regions achieves one of the founding principles of the Constitution. It not only gives greater coverage to indigenous languages, but also recognizes the cultural diversity and needs of our people and enriches our society.
The Bill also states that the regional services should receive grants from the state and that revenue can also be drawn from sponsorships, donations and other grants.
Concern has been expressed about the potential dilution of the powers of the Regulator who is constitutionally empowered to issue broadcasting licences. However, there is legal precedent for the legislature to give direction to the Regulator to begin a licensing process over which it would then have sole control e.g. Parliament mandated the IBA to license a third TV channel after the Triple Inquiry process. No Regulator can operate without direction. It is not unusual internationally for Government to also give guidance and to defend the interests of the public.
Of particular importance is that for the first time, SABC is required by law to develop policies to guide its operations such as editorial, programming, local content, education, universal access and language issues.
The provision that the SABC must enjoy freedom of expression and journalistic, creative and programming independence is retained. But this right is correctly placed in the context of, and is to be balanced with other rights of all citizens.
This freedom of expression is integral to the freedom of our people, as the President said during his Freedom Day address this year, " Freedom will have meaning if we work not only for individual fulfilment but also for the good of every South African man, woman and child; and in so doing, recognize that the freedom of each and every one of us is necessarily connected to the freedom of all." The Charter now states that the programming of the SABC must:
a) Reflect South African values and attitudes
b) Display South African talent
c) Offer a variety of South African views
d) Advance the national and public interest
The public broadcaster must therefore encourage the development of South African expression by providing a wide range of programming in all official languages.
We have listened to a number of inputs that suggest we should have a separate Bill for SABC and we will give serious consideration to this.
The procedures for the granting of additional pay television licences are catered for, thus allowing competition in this sector.
In conclusion, Chairperson, I must emphasise that this Bill is about real issues, real people, and their real needs. We have sought to ensure that the broadcasting system as a whole contributes to making a difference in peoples' lives by allowing for the reflection of their reality and enhancement of their empowerment so that they participate in the socio-political discussions in order to shape the future of this country and its people.
The space that we have carved for meaningful participation by the public must be used to advance the national interest of building a united, democratic and caring South Africa. As individuals and collectives, we must take the responsibility to make our input in the shaping of policies that will define the South African expression.
As we have always said, rights go hand in hand with responsibility. Therefore, we must always remember to participate in policy formulation and implementation of the law.
So lets all pay our television licences. It is the Right Thing To Do!
Finally, we wish to thank all the organizations and people who made valuable contributions throughout the processing of this bill. We know we have a better bill that satisfies the majority of concerns raised.
I would like to thank especially the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Communications, and all other members of this Committee for steering through this bill that ensures broadcasting which reflects the diversity of our people, their cultures, traditions and aspirations.
Thanks to all individuals and organizations that participated in the public processes and hearings, therefore enriching the discussions and strengthening our democracy.
Special thanks to the Department of Communications, particularly the DDG and the DG for co-ordinating the process that culminated in the presentation of this Bill to Parliament.
I request that the House accepts this Bill.
Thank you.
Issued by the Ministry of Communications
Source: Ministry of Communications
Title: Matsepe-Casaburri: Tabling of the Broadcasting Amendment Bill, NA
SPEECH BY THE MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS, DR IVY MATSEPE-CASABURRI, DURING THE TABLING OF THE BROADCASTING AMENDMENT BILL, National Assembly, 23 October 2002
The Bill that we present here today was debated in the wake of the celebration of Press Freedom Day in our Country on the 19th of October. This 25th year commemoration of a very dark day in our country, when a number of black news organisations were closed down and their members arrested because the apartheid government did not like their views, is a stark reminder of what we, as a government should never repeat and what we, as South Africans, should never again accept.
Perhaps it was opportune that this Bill was debated at a time when we were reflecting on where we come from and contemplating the future of our young democracy. The debate on this Bill and the commemoration helped us reaffirm that media is fundamental to democracy and that a free media is an imperative.
The Bill we are presenting was first received with some hysteria and unfounded and/or misguided accusations of intentions of government to control particularly the public broadcaster and ride roughshod over the constitution and the rights it confers on those in the media. Nothing could be further from the truth. We introduced the Bill very conscious of the fact that it will spark debate about broadcasters' role and social obligations, a debate we had tried unsuccessfully to engage in with the SABC for two years.
Our experience from the complaints we often receive from members of the house and members of the public, both urban and rural, both those highly literate and with access to numerous media and those illiterate and with limited access to media except radio, shaped this Bill. We were painfully aware of how media and SABC in particular, had sold us an "expert" by the name of Eugene Nyathi - in fact, I was reminded that Nyathi was an SABC creation during my chairpersonship of that organisation.
More recently, two other issues of how broadcasters can unleash havoc on the public were brought to my attention. A radio station, in a province I shall not name, had a weekly programme in which an "expert" in witchcraft was presented to the public only to be told by the so-called "expert's" psychiatrist that he is actually a mental patient. I asked myself why and how we could unleash such insanity on our unsuspecting public (excuse the pun). In another province, a weekly programme had an internecine war fanned between two people - one a mayor of a town and the other the radio programme presenter. The unsuspecting public were not informed that the presenter was in fact the former mayor of that town and unhappy about having been ousted. Such abuse of our airwaves was not intended by the rights of freedom of expression.
What appeared as an extreme position of government in the Bill was intended to have all South Africans, and indeed this parliament focus their attention on the challenge of accountability and responsibility in broadcasting, cognisant of the diversity of the experiences of all people of this nation.
After the initial reaction, this nation and the portfolio committee, through the newspapers, radio programmes and the debates of honourable members of this House, were able to focus on the real issues rather than the imagined ones that arose out of a lack of reading and/or understanding of the Bill.
The debates allowed us to deal with the challenges confronting South Africa, such as:
a) Unequal access to TV broadcasting in the languages of the majority;
b) Lack of sufficient local content in programming that reflects South Africa and a shared vision of a diverse population;
c) Balancing the right to freedom of expression with the other rights enshrined in the Bill of Rights and the Constitution;
d) What Joe Thloloe, a respected journalist called "the deteriorating standards in newsrooms". He asks us to accept this fact because a large corps of experienced journalists has been lost to the trade. He says, "With the influx of junior reporters the craft has lost its stature". (Sowetan 18/10/02). In this vein, another journalist wrote that "Journalists must use analytical tools to verify information and get their story from primary sources.... rather than replacing this with telephone and fax journalism. He complains that there is no verification (K Mamaila - Sowetan 18/10/02);
e) The lack of news editorial, programming, language and other policies, that inform/shape the content of the national broadcaster and/or lack of knowledge of any existing policies by the public;
f) The incomplete debate and poorly articulated discourse on national interest; and
g) The funding of the public broadcaster without compromising its independence.
We are happy now that finally, common sense and reason have prevailed over posturing, political rhetoric, sound bites and other opportunistic machinations, therefore, allowing us to reach consensus on a wide range of issues pivotal to the development of the broadcasting system.
As the debate of this Bill proceeded, it became quite clear that the discussions became less political and more about what is good for this new democracy in the context of a society that has not yet achieved what is called national consensus. There developed cohesion and a respect for different views. I wish to thank all involved for this co-operation.
This Bill brings greater clarity by categorising different licences in accordance with services provided. We wish to thank those that made the technical inputs such as Multichoice, M-net, Orbicom, Sentech and Telkom for their valuable inputs in this regard.
The Bill also provides for the implementation of the conversion and corporatisation of the SABC; it includes a charter as well as accountability and compliance mechanisms. It strengthens the role of the publicly selected board in terms of governance and of Icasa in terms of regulation, licensing and monitoring.
To ensure delivery by the public broadcaster on its mandate, it is now required in law that it prepares and submits to the Regulator, policies that will ensure compliance with the Regulators' Code of Conduct and its licence conditions as well as the objectives contained in the Broadcasting Act.
The Board must ensure public participation in the development of the policies and institute regular and effective means to solicit public opinion about its programming and give due consideration to that public input. The SABC must also develop its own Code of Conduct to ensure that the Corporation complies with the constitutional principle of equality and equitable treatment of all people, languages and the rights of all to information. SABC must strive to provide for a wide range of audience interests, beliefs and expressions and a high standard of accuracy, fairness and impartiality must be adhered to.
The Bill now vests the regional services with the SABC as entities under full control of the SABC Board. These additional television services that will broadcast regionally in languages appropriate to the two regions achieves one of the founding principles of the Constitution. It not only gives greater coverage to indigenous languages, but also recognizes the cultural diversity and needs of our people and enriches our society.
The Bill also states that the regional services should receive grants from the state and that revenue can also be drawn from sponsorships, donations and other grants.
Concern has been expressed about the potential dilution of the powers of the Regulator who is constitutionally empowered to issue broadcasting licences. However, there is legal precedent for the legislature to give direction to the Regulator to begin a licensing process over which it would then have sole control e.g. Parliament mandated the IBA to license a third TV channel after the Triple Inquiry process. No Regulator can operate without direction. It is not unusual internationally for Government to also give guidance and to defend the interests of the public.
Of particular importance is that for the first time, SABC is required by law to develop policies to guide its operations such as editorial, programming, local content, education, universal access and language issues.
The provision that the SABC must enjoy freedom of expression and journalistic, creative and programming independence is retained. But this right is correctly placed in the context of, and is to be balanced with other rights of all citizens.
This freedom of expression is integral to the freedom of our people, as the President said during his Freedom Day address this year, " Freedom will have meaning if we work not only for individual fulfilment but also for the good of every South African man, woman and child; and in so doing, recognize that the freedom of each and every one of us is necessarily connected to the freedom of all." The Charter now states that the programming of the SABC must:
a) Reflect South African values and attitudes
b) Display South African talent
c) Offer a variety of South African views
d) Advance the national and public interest
The public broadcaster must therefore encourage the development of South African expression by providing a wide range of programming in all official languages.
We have listened to a number of inputs that suggest we should have a separate Bill for SABC and we will give serious consideration to this.
The procedures for the granting of additional pay television licences are catered for, thus allowing competition in this sector.
In conclusion, Chairperson, I must emphasise that this Bill is about real issues, real people, and their real needs. We have sought to ensure that the broadcasting system as a whole contributes to making a difference in peoples' lives by allowing for the reflection of their reality and enhancement of their empowerment so that they participate in the socio-political discussions in order to shape the future of this country and its people.
The space that we have carved for meaningful participation by the public must be used to advance the national interest of building a united, democratic and caring South Africa. As individuals and collectives, we must take the responsibility to make our input in the shaping of policies that will define the South African expression.
As we have always said, rights go hand in hand with responsibility. Therefore, we must always remember to participate in policy formulation and implementation of the law.
So lets all pay our television licences. It is the Right Thing To Do!
Finally, we wish to thank all the organizations and people who made valuable contributions throughout the processing of this bill. We know we have a better bill that satisfies the majority of concerns raised.
I would like to thank especially the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Communications, and all other members of this Committee for steering through this bill that ensures broadcasting which reflects the diversity of our people, their cultures, traditions and aspirations.
Thanks to all individuals and organizations that participated in the public processes and hearings, therefore enriching the discussions and strengthening our democracy.
Special thanks to the Department of Communications, particularly the DDG and the DG for co-ordinating the process that culminated in the presentation of this Bill to Parliament.
I request that the House accepts this Bill.
Thank you.
Issued by the Ministry of Communications
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