16 February 2000
Communications Minister Dr Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri today refuted a report published in Business Day (Government Meddled with SABC - 14 February, 2000) where outgoing SABC chairperson Prof Paulus Zulu is quoted as saying that the SABC was "dictated to from above".
The Minister says that during her time as chairperson of the SABC, she never experienced this kind of "dictating to from above" that the outgoing chairperson alludes to. Further, she says that in her position as Minister for Communication she has never interfered with the internal matters of the SABC or with those matters deemed to be the responsibility of the Board, nor will she.
Minister Matsepe-Casaburri says she is informed that the SABC itself recently conducted an investigation into the independence of the and their conclusion was that there was no interference from Government.
Government is the sole shareholder of the SABC and as such is responsible for the well-being of the enterprise, the Minister says. It therefore determines the policy framework within which the corporation works.
With regard to the corporitising of the SABC, Minister Matsepe-Casaburri notes that the SABC was a member of the task team that led the policy process resulting in the promulgation of the Broadcasting Act of 1999.
The Broadcasting Act of 1999 – which was passed by Parliament and signed by the President – sets out the corporitisation of the SABC. The Minister is obliged to obey the law of the country; it is not up to a Minister to decide which laws to comply with and which to ignore.
The Minister says the SABC Board has recourse to the Portfolio Committee on Communications if they felt that Government was interfering with their work. It is not clear if they ever took their complaint to the Portfolio Committee.