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Polity
Article by: Sapa Published: 10 Feb 2009
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| Motlanthe sends SABC Bill back to Parliament | |
| President Kgalema Motlanthe has send the contentious Broadcasting Amendment Bill back to the National Assembly unsigned. Motlanthe has referred the bill back to the Assembly for reconsideration because he has reservations about the bill's constitutionality, his office said in a statement on Monday. The bill has raised the ire of opposition parties, who accuse the ANC of wanting to use it simply to get rid of the current SABC board. The bill was approved by the Assembly in November last year, but a number of parties, including the Democratic Alliance and Freedom Front Plus, wrote to Motlanthe asking him not to sign the bill on constitutional grounds. The bill makes it possible for Parliament to fire either individuals on the SABC board or the board as a whole. The opposition say the proposed dissolution of the SABC board without due inquiry offends against the Constitution's section 33 right to fair administrative action. In addition, the proposed dissolution is destructive of the security of tenure without which the board does not enjoy the independence which enables it to protect its editorial divisions in exercising the constitutional guarantee of free speech and media freedom. |
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