Portfolio Committee Chairperson unhappy with withdrawal of SABC Bill

The Chairperson of Parliament’s Communications and Digital Technology Committee, Khusela Diko, has expressed grave concern following reports that the SABC Bill has been withdrawn by Communication Minister Solly Malatsi.

The aim of the Bill is to relook at the financing model of the public broadcaster, as its unfunded public mandate has become near impossible to carry.

The Bill has been some 16 years in the making.

In a statement, Diko says the portfolio committee was not consulted in this regard.

She says while she appreciates that the Minister has the rescinding authority, the action to withdraw the Bill is ill conceived.

Malatsi is quoted as saying that the Bill is totally flawed, it does not address the funding model of the public broadcaster and assigns too much power to the Minister in appointing board members.

But Diko says this is trigger-happy action, which serves no purpose but to frustrate and disrupt processes already under way.

And that this could be the death knell for the financially hamstrung public broadcaster.

In the previous Parliament, the process to enact the Bill reached the stage of public consultations.

Diko says none of the issues raised by civil society and the Democratic Alliance (DA), are insurmountable.

SABC Bill | Focus on revamping funding model for public broadcaster: