If the Public Service Broadcasting Bill was passed through Parliament, it would be a great disservice to the public, said Media Monitoring Africa's William Bird on Wednesday.

Speaking at a colloquium on press freedom at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, Bird said that the Bill would mean that the Minister of Communications would be given extensive powers of intervention in the public broadcaster, the SABC, and that this would have the effect of undermining media independence as a whole.

According to Kate Skinner, speaking on behalf of the Support Public Broadcasting Campaign (SOS), the Bill would change how public broadcasting would operate, right from the SABC down to community broadcasting.

One of the major features of the current Bill related to the funding of public broadcasting. Currently, public funding made up approximately 2% of the SABC's budget. Under the Public Service Broadcasting Bill, this figure would significantly increase, while licensing fees (18%) would be scrapped.

Under the Bill, the Minister of Communications would have the power to play an important role in the use of these public funds free of any public consultation. Further, the CEO, COO and CFO of the SABC would be appointed by the board on the advice of the Minister. The Minister would also be given the power to instruct the board to take any action deemed necessary.

The key message from both Bird and Skinner was that the implementation of the Bill was a serious threat to media freedom and that giving the Minister of Communications greater powers of intervention sets a dangerous precedent that would undermine democracy in the country.

In response, both Bird and Skinner called for a public review process, under which civil society and government could actively engage with the terms and clauses within the Bill in order to guarantee broadcasting freedom and independence.