the vision of the sos: support public broadcasting coalition

8/12/2019 The Vision of the SOS: Support Public Broadcasting Coalition

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ENSURING INNOVATIVE,

CITIZEN-ORIENTATED PUBICBROADCASTING INSOUTH AFRICA:

Vision of the

SOS: Support PublicBroadcasting

Coalition


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ENSURING INNOVATIVE,CITIZEN-ORIENTATED PUBLIC

BROADCASTING IN SOUTH AFRICA:Vision of theSOS: Support Public

Broadcasting Coalition

DOCUMENT TO SUPPORT THEICT POLICY REVIEW PROCESS

March 2013

PURPOSE OF THIS DOCUMENTThe purpose of this document is to articulate the vision of the SOS: Support PublicBroadcasting Coalition for broadcasting and, in particular, public and communitybroadcasting, with the speci c aim of lobbying government to implement this vision.

The contents of this document have been widely debated by civil society within thestructures of the SOS Coalition though a number of roundtable discussions, workshopsand public meetings.

www.soscoalition.org.za

Facebook /soscoalition

Twitter@sos_za


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CONTENTSACRONYMS viii

1. INTRODUCTION 11.1. What is the SOS Coalition? Its members, history, role and funders 11.2. Purpose of this document 3

2. CONTEXT 32.1. International principles of public broadcasting 32.2. International principles of community broadcasting 42.3. Implications of the digital environment for public broadcasting 5

2.3.1. Digital standards debate 72.3.2. Current pre-eminence of the SABC 72.3.3 Policy suggestions on the digital dividend 8

2.4. Present crises in public and community broadcasting inSouth Africa 82.4.1. Public broadcasting 82.4.2. Community broadcasting 10

2.5. The need for a comprehensive policy review process 11

3. VISION AND PRINCIPLES FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING 133.1. Vision 13

3.2. Principles 13

4. PUBLIC BROADCASTING CONTENT AND PROGRAMMING 154.1. Concerns 154.2. Good practice 15

4.3. Key mechanisms 174.3.1. The SABC Charter 174.3.2. Licence conditions 184.3.3. Editorial policies 194.3.4. Additional contributing factors to poor

programming quality 20

5. LEGAL STRUCTURE OF THE SABC 21

5.1. Problems with the present structure 215.2. Options for a new structure 23

5.2.1. The SABC as Chapter 9 institution 23


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6. OVERSIGHT AND GOVERNANCE OF THE SABC 266.1. Oversight structures to ensure accountability of the SABC 26

6.1.1. Public 266.1.2. Parliament 30

6.1.3. ICASA: the Regulator 316.1.4. The Auditor-General 326.1.5. Minister of Finance and the Minister and

Department of Communications 336.2. Governance structures to ensure accountability within the SABC 34

6.2.1. The Board 356.2.2. Executive management 36

7. FUNDING 377.1. Public broadcasting funding 37

7.1.1. International background issues 377.1.2. National background issues 377.1.3. The SABCs present nancial model 377.1.4. Considerations for the development of a new

funding model 387.2. Community broadcasting funding 397.3. The role and structure of the Media and Development and

Diversity Agency 39

7.4. Funding for the Local Content Production Industry 40

8. CONCLUSION 41

APPENDIX 1: MEMBERSHIP LIST OF THE SOS COALITION 42

APPENDIX 2: KEY INTERNATIONAL INSTRUMENTS 44APPENDIX 3: PROPOSED CHARTER FOR THE SABC 47

APPENDIX 4: PROPOSED PROCESS TO APPOINT THE SABC BOARD 49

APPENDIX 5: SOS COALITION DISCUSSION DOCUMENT FUNDINGFOR PUBLIC AND COMMUNITY BROADCASTING 54


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A NEW CITIZEN VISION FORPUBLIC BROADCASTING

SOS is a membership-based public broadcasting coalitionrepresenting a network of trade unions, independent lm and TVproduction sector organisations, non-governmental and community-based organisations, academics, freedom of expression activistsand concerned individuals.

The SOS vision is to create a public broadcasting system dedicatedto the broadcasting of quality, diverse, citizen-orientated publicprogramming committed to social justice and the deepening ofSouth Africas Constitution, particularly the Bill of Rights includingsocio-economic rights.

The Coalition applauds the commitment made by the Ministryand Department of Communications in 2011 and 2012 to embark ona comprehensive ICT broadcasting policy review process, includingthe development of a Broadcasting Green Paper, BroadcastingWhite Paper, and detailed recommendations for new legislation.

The SOS Coalition believes that the following PRINCIPLES shouldbe re ected in new Broadcasting and ICT laws:

1. BROADCASTING LANDSCAPESOS believes that there ought to continue to be three tiers of

broadcasting: public, commercial and community. SOS is of theview that broadcasting, signal distribution and frequency spectrummust be regulated by an independent body, free of commercialand political interference.

2. PUBLIC BROADCASTINGPublic broadcasting must strengthen the goals of our Constitution,

especially the Bill of Rights, including socio-economic rights. Further,every person in SA should be able to receive both radio and televisionprogramming in their home language. The public broadcaster musthave institutional autonomy and be independent of commercial,government and party political interests.


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8. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION MECHANISMSFOR THE SABC

New public participation mechanisms must be investigated

including the launching of a Public Editor and National and RegionalPublic Stakeholder Committees.

9. SABC GOVERNANCE AND OVERSIGHTSTRUCTURES

The roles and responsibilities of the SABCs oversight andgovernance structures must be clari ed to ensure that:

the Ministry and Department con ne themselves to their policymaking role;

Parliament plays its legislative and oversight roles in terms of theSABCs corporate plans and nances;

the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa(ICASA) is strengthened and resourced to play its monitoringand regulatory role as regards public programming;

the SABC Board is strengthened to play its strategic governancerole including the employment of professional staff; and

that SABC management is empowered to manage the institutionwithout in uence from vested interests.

10. PUBLIC BROADCASTING FUNDING

SABCParliament and the Ministry and Department of Communications

must ensure that the SABC has suf cient public funding to pursue itspublic service mandate in respect of programming so that editorialindependence is safeguarded. Any policy and legislation developedon a funding model must ensure the long term independence,sustainability and effectiveness of public broadcasting. Aneconomic modelling exercise is required to ascertain the actual

funding requirements of the SABC in terms of the ful lling of its publicmandate in the digital multichannel environment.


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11. COMMUNITY BROADCASTINGA coherent framework for community broadcasting is required

that is an alternative to the mainstream media; embraces interactivecommunication tools; promotes local, bottom-up development;

addresses local conditions and ensures institutional autonomy.

Community broadcasting programming must be rooted inand accountable to the needs of geographical communitiesand communities of interest and must re ect the views of theseaudiences.

Government must investigate new funding models for thecommunity media sector including ways to mitigate unsustainablyhigh transmission costs.

12. PRINCIPLES OF DIGITAL BROADCASTINGNEEDED TO REAP THE DIGITAL DIVIDEND

Public broadcasting and public information and communicationneeds must be prioritised.

Spare frequency capacity must be made available to all threetiers of broadcasting i.e. public, commercial and communitybroadcasting, and suf cient frequency capacity must be set asidefor future use.

New community and commercial operators, both free-to-air andsubscription, must be licensed to ensure that a wide range of televisionservices, broadcasting a variety of content: including: news, current

affairs, education and entertainment, is available to the public.

Standard De nition Television rather than High De nition Televisionshould be adopted as the general standard for digital terrestrialtelevision in order to allow access to a greater number of services,thereby ensuring that the digital dividend does not bene t thewealthy only.

Set Top Boxes must be affordable and interoperable.

WE NEED A STRONG CIVIL SOCIETY VOICE IN SUPPORT OF

PUBLIC BROADCASTING!


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ACRONYMSAfrimap African Governance Monitoring and

Advocacy Project

AIDC Alternative information Development Centre

BCCSA Broadcasting Complaints Commission ofSouth Africa

BEMAWU The Broadcast, Electronic Media and AlliedWorkers Union

CBO community-based organisationCOSATU Congress of South African Trade Unions

CWU Communication Workers Union

CWUSA Creative Workers Union of South Africa

DFA Documentary Film Association

DTT digital terrestrial televisionDVB-T Digital Video Broadcasting for Terrestrial

DVB-T2 Digital Video Broadcasting for Terrestrial,second generation

FEDUSA Federation of South African Unions

FXI Freedom of Expression InstituteFXN Freedom of Expression Network

GCEO Group Chief Executive Of cer [of the SABC]

HDTV High De nition Television

IAJ Institute for Advancement of Journalism

ICASA Independent Communications Authority ofSouth Africa


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ITU International Telecommunications Union

MDDA Media Development and Diversity Agency

MISA-SA Media Institute of Southern Africa

MMA Media Monitoring Africa

MWASA Media Workers Association of South Africa

NAB National Association of Broadcasters

NCRF National Community Radio Forum

NGO non-governmental organisation

OSF-SA Open Society Foundation for South Africa

OSMP Open Society Media Programme

PFMA Public Finance Management Act (1999)

SABC South African Broadcasting Corporation

SADC Southern African Development Community

SADIBA Southern African Digital BroadcastingAssociation

SASFED South African Screen Federation

SDTV Standard De nition Television

SOS Coalition SOS: Support Public Broadcasting Coalition

STB set top box

USAASA Universal Service and Access Agency of SouthAfrica

WSIS World Summit on the Information Society


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1. INTRODUCTION1.1. What is the SOS Coalition? Its members,

history, role and fundersThe SOS: Support Public Broadcasting Coalition (SOS Coalition) is amembership-based coalition. It represents a number of trade unionsincluding the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU);COSATU af liates including the Communication Workers Union(CWU) and the Creative Workers Union of South Africa (CWUSA); theFederation of Unions of South Africa (FEDUSA), the Media WorkersAssociation of South Africa (MWASA), the Broadcast, Electronic

Media and Allied Workers Union (BEMAWU); independent lm andTV production sector organisations including the South AfricanScreen Federation (SASFED); non-governmental organisations(NGOs) and community-based organisations (CBOs) including theFreedom of Expression Institute (FXI) and Media Monitoring Africa(MMA); academics, freedom of expression activists and concernedindividuals. For the full membership list see Appendix 1: MembershipList of the SOS Coalition.

The Coalitions aim is to address the ongoing crisis in public andcommunity broadcasting in South Africa to ensure the broadcast ofquality, diverse, citizen-orientated programming committed to thedeepening of South Africas Constitution.

At its outset (2008) the SOS Coalition adopted a speci c focus onthe institution of the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC).Later, however, the Coalition adopted a broader systems levelapproach, focusing on the role of all three tiers of broadcasting inthe country:

public, community, and commercial.

The SOS Coalition believes that community broadcasting shouldplay a public-interest, citizenship role at the local level, and thatcommercial broadcasters should be required, through their licence

conditions, to play a public interest role (albeit a much more limitedone than that played by the public broadcaster and communitybroadcasters) in terms of providing news, certain languagerequirements, local programming quotas etc.


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The SOS Coalition is not focused on commercial broadcasting.However we do recognise that there is a lack of commercialbroadcasters particularly in terms of a national footprint. The SOSCoalition believes that, although it is important to look at thepromotion of public broadcasting content across all three tiers

of broadcasting, there does need to be an institution such as theSABC that speci cally promotes and champions public servicebroadcasting.

The SOS Coalition campaigns for the strengthening of publicservice broadcasting through its website, facebook, twitter andelectronic email-based information services for members, friendsand interested stakeholders on public service broadcasting andrelated matters. Where possible, SOS develops and advocates forconsensus positions on important public broadcasting and relatedmatters.

SOS promotes a constructive engaged role with all stakeholders,including: national government; Parliament; political parties;Chapter 9 bodies such as the Independent CommunicationsAuthority of South Africa (ICASA); statutory bodies such as: the MediaDevelopment and Diversity Agency (MDDA), the Universal Serviceand Access Agency of South Africa (USAASA), Sentech etc; thepublic broadcaster, the SABC; industry bodies such as the NationalAssociation of Broadcasters (NAB) and the National CommunityRadio Forum (NCRF) as well as a range of NGOs, CBOs, campaignsand others. While we believe in working closely with all possiblegroupings in support of broadcasting in the public interest wemaintain our ability to critique poor practice and mis-management,at the administrative and governance level as well as at regulatory,policy and law-making levels.

SOS is driven by the commitment and voluntary support of its members,particularly the individuals and organizations representatives servingon its working group. SOS has two funded staff-member positions:coordinator and organiser. Further, SOS fundraises to hold publicdiscussion forums and to commission research and legal advice.Currently both the Open Society Foundation and the Friedrich EbertStiftung are its funders.

For more information on the SOS Coalition see the website:www.soscoalition.org.za , or follow the SOS Coalition onTwitter @soscoalition or on facebook at /soscoalition .


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1.2. Purpose of this document

The purpose of this document is to articulate the vision of the SOSCoalition for public service broadcasting, with the speci c aimof lobbying government to implement this vision through the ICTpolicy review process. SOS thinks it is imperative that this policyreview process be transparent and comprehensive resulting in botha Green and White Paper but also in appropriate draft legislationand we are of the view that this Vision Document would make aninvaluable contribution to all these processes.

2. CONTEXT2.1. International principles of public

broadcasting 1

The importance of public broadcasting is captured in a number ofAfrican and international instruments including, but not limited to, theAfrican Charter on Broadcasting, the African Principles of Freedomof Expression Declaration, the Dakar Declaration, the Access to the

Airwaves Principles. See Appendix 2: Key International Instrumentsfor further detail .

Collectively these international instruments call for state broadcastersto be transformed into public broadcasters.

They call for public broadcasters to have a clearly-de ned publicservice mandate including:

Quality, independent programming that contributes to aplurality of opinions and an informed public.

Comprehensive news and current affairs programming whichis impartial, accurate and balanced.

Reporting and programming that is not one-sided, particularlyduring election periods.

1. Please note this section draws on the Second Edition of SADC Media Law andPractice, 2012 handbook commissioned by the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung,written by Justine Limpitlaw


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A range of broadcast material that strikes a balance betweenprogramming of wide appeal and specialised programmingthat serves the needs of different audiences.

Universal accessibility and serving all the people and regions ofthe country, including minority groups.

Educational programmes and programmes directed towardschildren.

Local programme production including, through minimumquotas, original productions and material produced byindependent producers.

The instruments call for:

Editorial independence for public broadcasters. Public broadcasters to be run by independent boards that

operate in the public interest, and are not subject to politicalor economic / commercial interference.

Independence of the boards to be protected by legislationand, if possible, by the Constitution. Further, they state that apublic broadcaster must be accountable to the legislature (amulti-party body) and not to government.

Public broadcasters to be adequately funded in a mannerthat protects their independence.

The SOS Coalition supports these principles.

2.2. International principles of communitybroadcasting

These principles are endorsed in the African Charter on Broadcastingand the African Principles of Freedom of Expression Declaration:

Article 1 of Part III of the African Charter on Broadcastingprovides, in its relevant part: [c]ommunity broadcastingis broadcasting which is for, by and about the community,whose ownership and management is representative of thecommunity, which pursues a social development agenda,and which is non-pro t.


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Article V.2 of the African Principles of Freedom of ExpressionDeclaration provides that community broadcasting shall bepromoted given its potential to broaden access by poor andrural communities to the airwaves.

The SOS Coalition supports these principles and believes that thecommunity broadcasting sector must be representative of realgeographic communities or communities of interest, and ought notto be beholden to commercial, state or government imperativesand interests.

2.3. Implications of the digital environment forpublic broadcasting

The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) has set a 2015deadline for terrestrial television broadcasters in Africa to migratefrom analogue to digital transmission (i.e. digital terrestrial televisionor DTT). After this date frequencies set aside for analogue televisiontransmission will no longer be protected against interference.The digital environment offers many potential bene ts (morechannels, special language features, the freeing-up of valuablespectrum space etc.). It also presents challenges around the highcosts of the new transmitters, set top boxes (STBs) and programmingto ll the new channel space.

However, one of the biggest challenges to successful migration isthat citizens may not purchase the new STBs because:

The boxes are too expensive; and / or

The programming on the new digital channels is not attractive

enough to warrant buying an STB.

This will mean that the expensive dual illumination process wherebroadcasters broadcast in both analogue and digital signals couldbe protracted. Further, if the analogue signal is switched off withoutcitizens having purchased STBs, they will be cut off from televisionbroadcasts altogether, with serious consequences for universalaccess and service.


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1. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR DIGITALBROADCASTING AND MIGRATION:

1.1. The development of a general digital policy (that deals

with non-migration issues), which ideally ought to dovetailwith the promised general ICT policy review.

1.2. ICASA must ensure that all digital broadcasters complywith existing local content regulations.

1.3. Standard De nition Television to be adopted rather than HighDe nition Television as the standard in order to allow accessto a greater number of services and thereby ensuring that thedigital dividend does not bene t the wealthy only.

1.4. Clarity around the subsidy scheme for STBs and governmentsrollout plans in this regard and the need for STB interoperability

none of which has been addressed in Governments SetTop Box Manufacturing Development Strategy (gg 35667)

1.5. A commitment from government and all relevant stakeholdersto ensure public awareness campaigns are rolled out asregards the digital migration process.

1.6. A commitment from government to ensure that thereare suf cient resources to roll out the necessary digitalinfrastructure and networks.

1.7. A commitment from government to ensure that there issuf cient funding allocated to the SABC for new publicservice programming on its digital incentive channels.

1.8. A commitment from ICASA to ensure that the issuing ofdigital incentive licenses to the incumbent broadcasters isthrough an open, consultative public process.

1.9. A commitment from ICASA and the Ministry that the digitaldividend results in the licensing, during the dual illuminationperiod, of new commercial and community operators,both free-to-air and subscription. This will ensure that a widerange of digital television services, broadcasting a varietyof content: including: news, current affairs, education andentertainment, is available to the public immediately after

the end of the dual illumination period. In this regard, SOSwould want ICASA to license or authorise as many non-pro tDTT channels as possible.


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2.3.1. Digital standards debate

The SOS Coalition notes that the Minister of Communicationsannounced in January 2011 that South Africa would adoptthe European Digital Video Broadcasting for Terrestrial (secondgeneration) (DVB-T2) standard.The SOS Coalition notes that this second generation of DVB-Ti.e. DVB-T2, with enhanced technical capabilities, is a positivedevelopment.

2.3.2. Current pre-eminence of the SABC

One of the major questions that arises within the new, digital multi-

channel environment is should the SABC, as the public broadcaster,be enabled to maintain its dominant position through protectionfrom competition with commercial broadcasters, or not? In thisregard the SOS Coalition notes that the numerical dominance ofthe SABCs services, both television and radio.

The SOS Coalition has considered a number of positions to ensure agenuine diversity of programming and opinion.

Discussions have led to a number of key questions: To what extent can and will new services on broadband or DTT

provide new public bene ts?

In a landscape of convergence and increasing services(increased television channels and internet content) viaDTT and broadband, what should be the long term role andmandate of the public broadcaster?

How will the public broadcaster afford to provide all theproposed new channels and services?

How will public broadcasting in this context be funded,governed and regulated?

How will the public broadcaster ensure that its additional newchannels will also result in a greater diversity of content?

How many additional national commercial radio and televisionchannels would be appropriate?

These questions need to be answered in any new broadcasting /ICT policy, and the Coalition will continue to do further research toinform future discussions.


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2.3.3. Policy suggestions on the digital dividend

The SOS Coalition believes that the public stands to bene t enormouslyfrom the opening up of spare frequency capacity once the transitionto digital broadcasting has been nalised. However, it is important

that the Department of Communications and the IndependentCommunications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) begin to developpolicy on what is to happen to such spare frequency capacity atthis stage, i.e. before the dual illumination period has begun and tobegin to license new operators for the post dual-illumination period.

2.4. Present crises in public and communitybroadcasting in South Africa

2.4.1. Public broadcasting

It is generally acknowledged that public broadcasting in South Africahas been in crisis for a number of years. The SOS Coalition is aware ofthe fact that a number of public institutions have experienced similarproblems. The crisis in public broadcasting must be seen within thisbroader context.

Some of the problem areas include:

2. RECOMMENDATIONS: DIGITAL DIVIDEND

2.1 Public broadcasting and public information andcommunication needs must be prioritised.

2.2 Spectrum must not be sold off to the highest bidder if thiswill be to the detriment of the needs of all South Africans.

2.3 Spare frequency capacity must be made available toall three tiers of broadcasting i.e. public, commercialand community broadcasting, and suf cient frequencycapacity must be set aside for future use.

2.4 License new commercial and community operators,both free-to-air and subscription to ensure that a widerange of television services, broadcasting a variety ofcontent including news, current affairs, education andentertainment, is available to the public.


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The SABC lacks a clear identity as a public, as opposed to a commercialor state, broadcaster. This results in problems such as not providingpublic information on the grounds of con dential commercialtrade secrets and the Board believing that it is accountable to thegovernment as shareholder instead of the public.

Long-running and seemingly intractable governance crises atthe level of the SABC Board and between the SABC Board andmanagement which have encouraged outside intervention.

Inappropriate and inadequate nancial management of theSABC which has threatened both its ability to deliver on its publicservice mandate and its independence.

The nancial crisis at the SABC which has threatened the viability

of the entire independent production industry in South Africa. Further, the independent production sector has been

weakened by the SABCs failure to engage in rational, practicalcommissioning practices. The SABC has refused to adoptinternational good practice with regard to allowing independentproducers the right to own their own intellectual property.

The SABC is plagued by unusually high staff turnover which,coupled with a trend towards using junior, inexperienced and

/ or short term contract journalists, has negatively affected thequality of programming.

Court ndings of political factionalism and bias affecting decisionsin respect of news and information programming that are contraryto the SABCs editorial policies, its Charter as set out in legislation,and the public interest, arising out of the so-called BlacklistingSaga (2006) and rulings such as the Broadcasting ComplaintsCommission of South Africa (BCCSA) on news reports (2011).

Great uncertainty over the future, including the introduction ofDTT, with little sign of a clear vision or road map for how thesechallenges will be met.

The oversight structures of the SABC, including the Minister andDepartment of Communications, ICASA and Parliament, haveunclear and sometimes overlapping mandates and roles, leadingto decreased public accountability and increased opportunitiesfor political and other vested interests to dominate.

A plethora of uncoordinated draft policies (e.g. the broadbandpolicy and the digital local content strategy) and legislation andregulations not aligned to one another.


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A Broadcasting Act, 1999 which is out-dated and, in any event, whichis insuf ciently coherent as a statute governing public broadcasting;and which contains signi cant gaps despite repeated amendments.

2.4.2. Community broadcasting

The Coalition believes that the community broadcasting sector is incrisis and that the issues are wide-ranging. In brief these are:

There are no sustainable public funding options for communitymedia, particularly in light of high transmission costs.

Governance structures of many community broadcasters areweak and ineffective.

Many community broadcasters adopt commercial imperativesto attract advertising in order to survive.

The Coalition believes a coherent framework for communitybroadcasting in South Africa must be developed. It must include anunderstanding that community broadcasting is able to offer alternativesto mainstream media (which is generally centrally operated andlocated in urban areas). It must also include the policy and legislativeamendments necessary to enable communities to de ne and establishbroadcasting services that speak to local conditions.

The development of this framework should also investigate interactivecommunication tools, including emerging digital technologies andthe potential of mobile phones (which have a high penetration inunderdeveloped and rural communities). Such an approach wouldensure that just like the emergence of social media (Facebook,Twitter, blogging) for middle class audiences, geographically-basedcommunity media could be equally innovative and play a potentiallydevelopmental role for poorer audiences.

3. RECOMMENDATION:COMMUNITY BROADCASTING

A coherent framework for community broadcasting is requiredthat is an alternative to the mainstream media; embracesinteractive communication tools; promotes local, bottom-updevelopment; and addresses local conditions.


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2.5. The need for a comprehensive policyreview process

Since its inception the SOS Coalition has been calling for a

comprehensive policy review process to provide the necessaryenabling environment to strengthen and appropriately supportpublic broadcasting in South Africa.

Previous Minister of Communications, General (Ret) Siphiwe Nyanda,presented a Public Service Broadcasting Discussion Paper in July2009. However, this was not a comprehensive review of policy todate and, unfortunately, did not result in a binding policy processbeginning with a Green Paper. Instead, the Department moved

directly to release the Draft Public Service Broadcasting Bill in 2009.The Draft Bill introduced a number of major policy shifts including,but not limited to, the following:

Broadcasting was no longer linked to be the goals of theConstitution but to the goals of the developmental state. Theterm developmental state was not de ned.

The SABC television licence fee was to be scrapped and a new

earmarked broadcasting tax was to be introduced. A central public service broadcasting fund was to be introduced

to cover a range of needs including, but not limited to, publicservice broadcasting, community broadcasting and signaldistribution.

New Ministerial powers were to be introduced.

The SOS Coalition argued that it was critical that at the very leastthe Broadcasting White Paper (1998) should be reviewed, and thatdetailed research on broadcast funding in the digital age neededto be conducted by the Department.

The next Minister of Communications, Mr Roy Padayachie, withdrewthe Draft Public Service Broadcasting Bill in November 2010. Heagreed to a review of the Broadcasting White Paper, and to conductsubstantive research, including an economic modelling exercise,

as regards potential funding models for the SABC and communitymedia. He recon rmed these commitments in a meeting with theSOS Coalition in September 2011.


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He promised to launch the broadcasting policy review beforethe end of 2011. Then in November 2011 Cabinet was re-shuf edand Minister Padayachie was assigned to a new portfolio, Minister,Dina Pule was appointed as Minister of Communications. Thebroadcasting policy review process was not launched in 2011.

In April 2012 Minister Pule then nally launched the ICT policy reviewprocess (including a key focus on broadcasting) promising a GreenPaper by the end of the year. However, disappointingly this deadlinewas not met. A Ministerial Review Panel however was set up at theend of 2012 to oversee the process.

A worrying trend in 2012 was that the Minister issued Draft ECAand ICASA Amendment Bills in 2012 that went far beyondtechnical amendments and encroached upon the terrain that acomprehensive ICT Policy Review Process ought to cover.

In 2013 the Coalition reiterates the need for the ICT Policy Reviewprocess to produce a Green and White paper and for ICT legislation,including the Broadcasting Act, to be updated.

4. RECOMMENDATION: THE POLICYREVIEW PROCESS

The ICT policy review must be transparent and widelyconsultative. It should review all relevant policy, legislation(including draft legislation) and regulations to ensure acoherent broadcasting and ICT environment in the publicinterest. It should begin with a Green Paper, the Broadcasting

White Paper (1998) must be thoroughly reviewed andupdated, and new legislation formulated to address currentpublic needs


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3. VISION AND PRINCIPLES FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING

3.1. VisionThe vision of the SOS Coalition is to create a public broadcastingsystem dedicated to the broadcasting of quality, diverse, citizen-orientated public programming committed to the values of theConstitution of the Republic of South Africa (1996). The SOS believesthat this should be done by ensuring three things:

That the SABC is transformed into a genuine public broadcaster

with a Charter setting out its public mandate in relation to itsprogramming.

That community media plays its public service broadcasting roleat the local level.

That commercial broadcasting contributes to the public good bycarrying certain public service obligations set out in regulationsand / or licence conditions including: news, local content, and

language requirements.

3.2. Principles

The SOS Coalition has extensively debated the principles that shouldunderpin public broadcasting. These are:

1. The goals re ected in the Constitution of South Africa must bestrengthened through public broadcasting, especially the Bill ofRights including, in particular, socio-economic rights.

5. RECOMMENDATION: VISION FOR PUBLICBROADCASTING

The vision for public broadcasting in South Africa must be onewhich calls for a focus on all three tiers of broadcasting toensure a broadcasting system dedicated to the broadcastingof quality, diverse, citizen-orientated public programmingcommitted to the values of the Constitution.


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2. All three tiers of broadcasting public, commercial andcommunity must be strengthened, and all should have publicservice obligations (appropriate to their respective tiers) such aslanguage, news and local content requirements.

3. Universal service must be ensured whereby every person in SouthAfrica is entitled to receive both radio and TV programming inone or more of South Africas of cial languages in his or her home.

4. Institutional autonomy must be ensured whereby the publicbroadcaster, community media and the broadcasting regulatorare independent of direct commercial, government and partypolitical interests, particularly in respect of programming.

5. SABC programming must be of a high standard and re ecta diversity of political, economic and cultural perspectives,including programming aimed at a range of grouping such aschildren, the elderly, women, the disabled etc.; and must beundertaken in all of cial languages.

6. Public accountability must be ensured whereby the publicbroadcaster, community media and the broadcasting regulatorare governed by structures that protect and enhance publicaccountability and best serve the public interest.

7. ICASA, the Regulator, must actively monitor and enforce the SABCsCharter and license conditions and the license conditions of allcommunity and commercial broadcasters in the public interest.

6. RECOMMENDATION: PRINCIPLES FOR PUBLICBROADCASTING

The principles for public broadcasting must be based oninternational good practice and focus on strengthening boththe goals of the Constitution and all three tiers of broadcasting,ensuring universal service, ensuring institutional autonomyand public accountability for all public and communitybroadcasters and the Regulator, ensuring that programming

is of a high standard and re ects diversity, and ensuring theRegulator can meet its public mandate.


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4. PUBLIC BROADCASTINGCONTENT & PROGRAMMING

4.1. ConcernsThe Coalition is concerned by a number of issues:

The SABCs lack of vision for content and programming on itsanalogue channels, and its lack of communication as regardsits vision for its new digital channels.

The SABCs vulnerability to capture by commercial, political and/ or state interests.

The Coalition believes the SABCs nancial crisis has exacerbatedthe problems of editorial interference by:

Encouraging the SABC to pursue advertiser-funded programmingand product placements.

Cutting back on local content and encouraging repeats.

Cutting back on the production of more expensive publicprogramming including drama, documentaries, educationaland childrens programming.

Insuf ciently prioritising African language programming.

4.2. Good practice

The SOS Coalition believes that the attributes of public broadcastingare credibility, reliability, variety and balance.

In line with international good practice as regards content andprogramming, the SABC needs to ensure it:

Serves the interests of all people irrespective of religion, politicalbelief, culture, race and gender.

Re ects, as comprehensively as possible, the range of existingopinions and of social, political, philosophical, religious, scienti cand artistic trends.


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Re ects regional diversity.

Ensures that the voices of the poor and marginalised are clearlyre ected.

Upholds and promotes free speech and expression.

Enables citizens regardless of their social status to communicateon the airwaves.

Encourages the production of citizen-generated content.

Offers a forum for democratic debate.

Offers news and current affairs that is balanced and explanatory;and that covers as broadly as possible issues and events in SouthAfrica, but also events in Africa and the rest of the world.

Offers a mix of documentaries, drama, education, youth andchildrens programmes.

Includes issues originated outside the country to contribute tocitizens knowledge of and exposure to the world.

Sets standards and leads the way in the broadcasting sector interms of citizen-orientated, compelling, creative, cutting-edgeofferings.

Leads the broadcasting sector in promoting local content andindependent production of local content.

The Coalition believes that, although the above is capturedbroadly in existing South African policy and legislation much is notimplemented.

7. RECOMMENDATION: PRINCIPLES FOR PUBLICPROGRAMMING

Programming must be based on the international good practicepublic broadcasting principles of credibility, reliability, varietyand balance. Programming must re ect as comprehensively aspossible the range of opinions in South Africa but in particularfocus on those views and opinions traditionally marginalised bythe commercial media. The public broadcasting sector must

lead the way in local content production.


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4.3. Key mechanisms

The Coalition believes that its vision for public programming shouldbe shaped by the following key mechanisms - the SABCs Charter,licence conditions and its editorial policies. There are also othercontributing issues, as discussed below.

4.3.1. The SABC Charter

The SOS Coalition is of the view that the current mandate of thepublic broadcaster is scattered throughout the Broadcasting Act(1999), for example sections: 2, 3, 6, 8, 10 and 11. What is needed isa single consolidated Charter that sets out the public mandate of

the SABC and which focuses on the following three key issues:

Promoting the values and goals of the Constitution.

Providing the public with programming of the highest quality

Contributing to the development of the countrys culture,languages and local cultural industries.

In terms of the above, the SOS Coalition has crafted a proposednew Charter for the SABC.

The SOS Coalition believes this proposed Charter should beextensively publicly debated, and a consensus version included indraft legislation developed by the Ministry and, nally, adopted byParliament.

The Charter should be reviewed and updated regularly, for example,approximately every seven years, in line with international goodpractice, and through a public consultation process.

Amendments to the Charter must be presented to Parliament foradoption (for example, through an amendment process which mustallow for additional public comment and participation).

ICASA must monitor compliance with the Charter and ensure thatlicence conditions and Charter obligations are aligned.

For the full text of the SOS Coalition document see Appendix 3:Proposed Charter for the SABC .


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4.3.2. Licence conditions

Due to a number of factors, including the absence of an effectivemonitoring system, ICASA has failed to monitor the SABCs adherenceto its license conditions and to its local content regulations (quotas).This has led to a situation where the SABC has been allowed toair endless repeats and too great a proportion of internationalprogramming.

8. RECOMMENDATION: THE SABC CHARTER

The SABC Charter must comprise a single Charter, and should

be developed through a consultative process betweengovernment and stakeholders. It should be reviewed andupdated regularly.

9. RECOMMENDATIONS: THE REGULATORICASA must:

9.1 Have its capacity, including nancing, boosted to allow itto effectively monitor all SABC channels and communityradio stations to ensure adherence to license conditions,regulation and the SABC Charter.

9.2 Review its local content regulations to ensure that

maximum local content quotas are set in terms ofinternational good practice across present analoguechannels and across the new bouquet of digital channels.

9.3 Follow a public process as regards the licensing of allnew digital incentive channels (to be issued during thedigital migration process including the imposition of localcontent thereon).


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4.3.3. Editorial policies

The SOS Coalition believes that the present SABC editorial policiescapture the key principles around the SABCs independence, itspublic mandate as set down in the Charter and the importance ofits accountability to audiences. However, the latter would need tobe debated and updated to take into consideration the new policyenvironment, any legislative changes, including a new Charter andthe new digital environment, when it commences. In principle theSABCs editorial policies ought to be reviewed on an on-going basisimmediately following the proposed 7-year review of the Charter.Further the Coalition believes that the editorial policies need to giveparticular emphasis to the following:

The SABCs watchdog role in terms of holding those in power inevery sector of society accountable.

The importance of ensuring that all audiences are cateredfor, but in particular those that are poor and marginalised andtherefore neglected by commercial broadcasters.

A further issue the SOS Coalition is concerned about is the issue of Editor-in Chief. As a matter of principle SOS believes in separating editorial

responsibilities from nancial and organisational responsibility. SOSrecognises that the SABCs editorial matters go beyond news andcurrent affairs. Consequently we would recommend that an Editor-in-Chief position be created on the Group Executive. All contentdepartments ought to report to the Editor-in-Chief on editorialmatters. The current situation where the Editor-in-Chief is the CEOdoes not accord with good journalistic practice internationally.

10. RECOMMENDATIONS: EDITORIAL POLICIESEditorial policies must be reviewed and updated to:

10.1 Take cognizance of the new digital environment;

10.2 Ensure the SABC plays its watchdog role and caters for allaudiences, in particular, those marginalized; and

10.3 Create a new post of Editor-in-Chief at Group Executive

level to deal with all content departments.


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4.3.4. Additional contributing factors to poorprogramming quality

Commissioning processes are perceived by some as ad hoc andunfair, and are not seen to prioritise the production of cutting edgeprogramming. Budgets have steadily decreased over the years.Further, independent producers have strongly complained aboutthe intellectual property rights regime that vests intellectual propertyrights automatically with the broadcasters rather than allowing forappropriate sharing of intellectual property rights with producers,thus preventing the developing of a vibrant trade in South African

lm and video productions.

Also audiences have complained that they dont have enough sayin programming produced and programming line-ups. Mechanismsneed to be investigated to ensure greater audience input intoprogramming.

11. RECOMMENDATIONS: IMPROVINGPROGRAMMING QUALITY

Programming quality must be improved by:11.1 Ensuring suf cient funding. In this regard the major portion

of the SABCs budget should be spent on programming.

11.2 Streamlining the process of commissioning by developinga set of consistent, fair and just criteria for commissioningcutting edge, citizen-orientated local content.

11.3 Substantially altering the intellectual property rights

regime to allow for the fuller development of theindependent production sector.

11.4 Ensuring programming is more accountable to the public.

11.5 Investigating new mechanisms (e.g. programmingcommittees) to ensure continuous input from audiencesconcerning their comments and preferences.


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5. LEGAL STRUCTURE OFTHE SABC1

5.1. Problems with the present structureThe following problems exist with the present structures:

Role of the Minister as Shareholder:

o The Broadcasting Act provides for the conversion of theSABC into a public company incorporated in terms of theCompanies Act (1973), to be known as the South African

Broadcasting Corporation Limited. The SABC was convertedinto a public company (i.e. corporatised) in 2004.

o The law emphasises that the state is the sole shareholder ofthe SABC but unfortunately does not stipulate that this is onbehalf of the public.

o The Broadcasting Act provides that the Minister is responsiblefor determining the SABCs Memorandum and Articles ofAssociation. The Broadcasting Act is silent on a ShareholdersCompact.

Currently the Minister of Communications determinesand amends the SABCs Memorandum and Articles ofAssociation, without public involvement or approval bya body such as Parliament and without making thesedocuments available to the public.

Further, the Minister signs an annual Shareholders

Compact with the SABC. This, too, is not part of apublic process and in any event is not required by theBroadcasting Act.

o These documents (Articles and Memorandum of Associationand Shareholders Compact) give the Minister signi cantpowers in terms of appointments of executive directors to theBoard, input in terms of corporate plans etc. This ultimatelycompromises the SABCs independence.

2 This section draws heavily on the African Governance Monitoring and AdvocacyProject (Afrimap), Open Society Foundation for South Africa (OSF-SA) and OpenSociety Media Programme (OSMP) research report on public broadcasting inAfrica Series, 2010, South Africa Report.

2


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The Broadcasting Act contains critical gaps in relation to whoappoints the executive Board members, and the practice ofMinisterial involvement compromises the SABCs independence.

The option to de-corporatise the SABC has been discussed insome detail by the Coalition. The problems with the SABCsexisting corporate structure, particularly in regard to the role ofthe Minister as representative of government have been clearlyidenti ed. However, the corporate structure does allow forstakeholders to insist that the SABC complies with the corporategovernance requirements as set out in the King III Report 2 andthis is a signi cant bene t.

The SOS is of the view that if the corporate structure is to remain,i.e. if the SABC is to remain a public company, it will be criticalto change the role and position of the Minister from that ofrepresentative of the government to that of representative ofthe public with a clear understanding that there are numerousstakeholders whose interests must be taken into account by theSABC.

A further problem is that the Broadcasting White Paper callsfor the creation of public and public-commercial divisionswithin the SABC. This division is aimed at ensuring nancial

viability, with the commercial wing cross-subsidising the publicwing. However, the public channel SABC 1 generates moremoney than the public-commercial channel SABC 3, and thein uence of advertising on all SABC channels therefore remainssigni cant.

Overall it appears there is insuf cient protection of the SABCsindependence both from commercial and governmentpressure. SOS has thus given consideration to a number of

options that may better protect the SABCs independence.There is consensus within the Coalition that:

Whatever the overall structure of the SABC is to be, the publicand public-commercial divisions should be terminatedthrough policy and legislative changes so that all channels arepublic, and are obliged to comply with the Charter and carrypublic service mandates.

3 The revised King Code and Report on Governance for South Africa (King III) waslaunched on 1 September 2009

3


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The SABC is not a corporate entity like any other commercial oreven state-owned company. It plays a critical role in the life ofthe nation.

The SABC should continue to exist as a public companyprovided the other changes suggested here are implemented.

The Broadcasting Act should stipulate while the state is the soleshareholder, it represents the public in that role.

There should, in principle, be appropriate separationsbetween the policy-developer and broadcasting operators,consequently we suggest that the Minister representing thepublic ought not to be the Minister of Communications andought, instead, to be the Minister of Finance.

The Shareholders Compact should be done away with as acompanys Memorandum and Articles of Association aresuf cient to provide for its governance rules and procedures.

Even if the Memorandum and Articles of Association are signedby the Minister of Finance, representing the public (i.e. the stateas sole shareholder), these should be developed (and amendedas necessary from time to time) through a transparent, publicprocess with Parliaments full involvement and agreement.

Essentially the Minister of Finances role is reduced to a proforma one, with Parliament playing a more signi cant role.

The Memorandum and Articles of Association of the SABC mustbe freely available to the public, including electronically on theSABCs website.

5.2. Options for a new structure

5.2.1. The SABC as Chapter 9 institution

South Africa is a developing country with developing countrychallenges. These include high levels of poverty and illiteracy.Consequently, the SABC is, for many of South Africas people, theonly source of news and information. It therefore plays a criticalpublic information role. A democracy cannot function effectivelywithout an informed citizenry. The SABC is therefore crucial to theproper functioning of our democracy and, when it fails to functioneffectively, our democracy can be said to be under threat. As ayoung democracy South Africa has yet to develop a national


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culture which respects the genuine independence of bodies suchas the SABC. Legal changes alone will not change this but can playan important role in helping to develop such a culture.

It is clear the current statutory regime is insuf cient to protect the

interests of the South African public. Consequently the SOS Coalitioncalls for the transformation of the SABC into a Chapter 9 institutionas a way of protecting the SABCs independence. Chapter 9 of theConstitution provides for a number of state institutions that supportConstitutional democracy, including an independent authority toregulate broadcasting (that is, ICASA), the Public Protector andthe South African Human Rights Commission. These institutions aredirectly answerable to Parliament, and the Constitution speci callyprotects the appointments and removals of Chapter 9 institutionsgoverning bodies from political and other interference.

The SOS Coalition is acutely aware that being a Chapter 9 bodydoes not insulate an institution from:

Suffering from ineffectual leadership and from institutionalineffectiveness; and

Institutional weaknesses arising out of, for example, a awed

corporate structure.

However, the Coalition believes that the more active Parliamentaryoversight role that is thrust upon Chapter 9 bodies would improvethe SABCs responsiveness and accountability to the public, andthat the institutional problems arising out of its public and public-commercial split could be addressed through amendments to itsgoverning legislation, the Broadcasting Act.

The SOS Coalition is aware that making the SABC into a Chapter9 institution would entail a Constitutional Amendment processrequiring suf cient political support. Nevertheless, the SOS Coalitionbelieves such an amendment process is critical if South Africa isserious about:

Transforming the public broadcaster into a genuine means ofempowering citizens; and

Wanting a public broadcaster that is committed to broadpolitical and wide public interests.


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13. RECOMMENDATIONS: A NEW LEGALSTRUCTURE FOR THE SABC

13.1 The SABC must be reconstituted as a Chapter 9 institutionthrough a Constitutional Amendment.

13.2 New policy and legislation must provide that:

13.2.1 The SABC is a public company with a Memorandumand Articles of Association.

13.2.2 The SABCs sole shareholder is the state representingthe public.

13.2.3 The Minister of Finance represents the state(representing the public) as the shareholder.

13.2.4 While the Minister of Finance signs the Memorandumand Articles of Association, he or she does so onlyafter their approval by Parliament.

13.2.5 Parliament is responsible for ensuring that thedevelopment of and any amendments to theMemorandum and Articles of Association is achieved

through an open and transparent participatorypublic process.

13.2.6 The Shareholders Compact is to be done away with.

13.2.7 The Memorandum and Articles of Association areto be publicly available, including on the SABCswebsite, at all times.

13.2.8 The public-commercial division of the SABC is done

away with, with all SABC channels becoming publicchannels subject to the SABCs Charter and carryingpublic service mandates.


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6. OVERSIGHT ANDGOVERNANCE OF THE SABC

Members of the SOS Coalition have concluded that the currentrange of governance and oversight structures have unclear andsometimes overlapping mandates, roles and functions. SOS believesthat clarity around the roles and functions for each, includingspecifying clear lines of accountability, would ensure signi cantlyimproved corporate governance at the SABC.

What follows is a suggested clari cation of the role and functionof each of the structures. It is important to note that many of thesuggestions made by the SOS are in fact currently provided for invarious laws. However, the implementation thereof is not suf cientlyrobust and, consequently, the SOS suggests that these issues befurther clari ed in policy and legislation.

6.1. Oversight structures to ensure

accountability of the SABC6.1.1. Public

The SABC as the publics broadcaster needs to be accountable tothe public.

The SOS Coalition notes that there are a number of existingopportunities for consultation with the public. These includeopportunities for the public to debate broadcasting legislation,select the SABC Board, and opportunities to debate the SABCseditorial policies.

14. RECOMMENDATION: ROLE ANDRESPONSIBILITY CLARIFICATION

The roles and responsibilities of all oversight and governancestructures and stakeholders must be clari ed in relation toone another to ensure clear lines of accountability.


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> National Public Stakeholder Committee:

o The National Public Stakeholder Committee is coordinatedby the Board, and is made up of the SABCs key nationalstakeholders, including representatives from:

SABC staff unions Cultural industry representatives including in respect of:

independent producers, script writers, actors, technical services providers.

Educational, labour, business, sport and faith-basednational bodies. National NGOs and CBOs that deal speci cally with:

Youth Women Disabled persons Public broadcasting or freedom of expression

General human rights issues Refugee matters

Social welfare matters Socio-economic issues

o The role of the National Public Stakeholder Committee is toensure that the SABC is performing its public broadcastingrole with speci c reference to its programming, and to review

the SABCs Charter periodically with a view to advising theBoard and the Minister of Communications on changesrequired over time to ensure that it continues to provide anup-to-date public broadcasting mandate.

o The National Public Stakeholder Committee should submit awritten report annually to the SABC Board, which report is tobe included in the SABCs Annual Report.

o In performing its tasks, the National Stakeholder Committeeis required to promote dialogue between the publicbroadcaster and its various audiences and stakeholdersincluding electronically.


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> Provincial / Regional Public StakeholderCommittees

o The Board is to coordinate the establishment and running ofnine Provincial / Regional Public Stakeholder Committees,each of which is made up of key provincial / regionalstakeholders, including:

Community-based regional or provincial groupings. Audience feedback panels.

o The Provincial / Regional Public Stakeholder Committeesshould each submit a written report annually to the SABCBoard and to the National Public Stakeholder Committee,which report is to be included in the SABCs Annual Report.

o In performing its tasks, the Provincial / Regional PublicStakeholder Committees are required to promote dialoguebetween the public broadcaster and the various regionsand provinces in South Africa on programming issues,including electronically.

As with the proposed Charter (see section 4.3.1 above), the SOSCoalition believes these mechanisms must be extensively debated,and consensus versions included in new policy and legislation. Alongwith the Charter, mechanisms must be reviewed and updatedregularly.

15. RECOMMENDATION: PUBLICPARTICIPATION MECHANISMS

New public participation and accountability mechanismsshould be investigated including

a Public Editor a National Public Stakeholder Committees. Nine Regional Public Stakeholder Committees.

These mechanisms should be included in new legislation.


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6.1.3. ICASA: the Regulator

All broadcasting regulatory matters fall within the jurisdiction of theRegulator the Independent Communications Authority of SouthAfrica (ICASA). ICASA has an ambiguous constitutional position. Anindependent regulator is provided for in Chapter 9 of the Constitutionthat deals with state institutions supporting constitutional democracy.However, general provisions relating to Chapter 9 bodies (sections181, 193 and 194) do not refer to ICASA creating uncertainty as toits status.

The primary role of ICASA with respect to the SABC is to regulate andpro-actively monitor the public broadcaster and, at least annually,to ensure compliance with its Charter, its licence conditions and allrelevant legislation and regulations.

The primary role of ICASA with respect to the community mediasector is to regulate and pro-actively monitor the sector, ensure ithas access to reasonably-priced transmission facilities, ensure thatcommunity broadcasters comply with licence conditions andrelevant policy, legislation and regulations.

The SOS Coalition believes there are a number of problems thatrequire attention in order for the Regulator to ful ll its obligations. SOSbelieves that one of the primary problems is lack of capacity due tosystematic under-funding of ICASA.

To deal with this lack of capacity and inef ciencies the Ministryand Department of Communications introduced the Draft ICASAAmendment Bill (2010). A further Amendment Bill was introduced in2012. Unfortunately both Bills did not deal with funding. Instead the

latter proposed signi cant increases to the powers of the Minister,with an understanding that this would improve the Regulatorsef cient functioning.

SOS however believes that these Bills will not solve ICASAsinef ciencies, in fact, the Coalition fears that they will insteadcreate a new set of problems by undermining the Regulatorsindependence from government. (The Regulator is already undulybeholden to commercial operators.)


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6.1.4. The Auditor-General

The SOS Coalition is of the view that the current practice of the SABCappointing commercial auditors ought to be reconsidered in light ofthe failure to predict or foresee the nancial crisis that struck the SABC

in the 2008/9 nancial year and in light of the danger of the SABCbeing audited by a rm dependent on annual reappointments.

17. RECOMMENDATIONS: ISSUES FOR THEREGULATOR

17.1 Funding to the Regulator must be increased in order forit to monitor and regulate effectively, and to safeguardits independence.

17.2 The Regulator should retain its licence and administrativefees.

17.3 The independent research capacity of the Regulatormust be signi cantly strengthened so as to allow it toengage meaningfully in micro-policy development.

17.4 The Regulator should be re-constituted as a fully-edged Chapter 9 institution. Its ambiguous position

as a Chapter 9 institution must be recti ed (through itsspeci c inclusions in sections 181, 193 and 194), therebybetter safeguarding its independence.

17.5 Appointment procedures to the ICASA Council shouldbe similar to those proposed by the SOS Coalition to beused in the appointment of non-executive members of

the SABC Board i.e. as set out in Appendix 4.

18. RECOMMENDATION: APPOINTMENT OF THEAUDITOR GENERAL TO AUDIT THE SABC

The SOS Coalition recommends that the Auditor-General beresponsible for auditing the SABCs nancial statements.


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6.1.5. Minister of Finance and the Minister andDepartment of Communications

After extensive debate on this issue the SOS Coalition believes that theappropriate role of the Minister and Department of Communicationsshould be to draft all high level (national) policy and legislation toensure the integrity and sustainability of the broadcasting sector,including all three tiers of broadcasters, in the public interest.

The Minister of Finance, as shareholder representative, should notbe involved in the appointment of the Board and / or executivemanagement of the public broadcaster, or in any editorial decisionsconcerning the SABCs programming.

Neither the Minister of Finance nor the Minister of Communicationsshould be involved in the operations and running of the publicbroadcaster. Further, neither the Minister of Communications norany regional or local government political appointment (MECor councilor) or of cial should be involved in the operations andrunning of any community broadcaster.

The Department, along with Parliament, should facilitate publicparticipation processes such as the review of the SABC Charter,given their resources and governmental mandates.


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6.2. Governance structures to ensureaccountability within the SABC

The SOS Coalition believes that the crises that have beset the SABCsince 2007 are a direct result of the lack of assertiveness and strengthof the various Boards that have been appointed since that time.

Consequently the SOS Coalition is of the view that all stakeholdersmust commit to ensuring that the SABC is headed by a Board that is:skilled, representative, independent and which has suf cient access

19. RECOMMENDATIONS: ISSUES FOR THE MINISTERAND DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNICATIONS

19.1 The role of Minister and Department of Communicationsshould be to draft all high level (national) policy andlegislation to ensure the integrity and sustainability ofthe broadcasting sector, including all three tiers ofbroadcasters, in the public interest.

19.2 Current involvement in the broadcasting sector atmanagement and / or operational levels must bechanged to enable ICASA and the SABC to operate withthe requisite independence.

19.3 Owing to existing capacity the Department, alongwith Parliament, should facilitate public participationprocesses in policy development, the reviews of the SABCCharter and the like.

19.4 Neither the Minister of Communications nor any regionalor local government political appointment (MEC orcouncilor) or of cial should be involved in the operationsand running of any community broadcaster.

19.5 The Minister of Finance and not the Minister ofCommunications should be the shareholder representativein respect of the SABC.

19.6 The Minister of Finance should not be involved inthe appointment of the Board and / or executivemanagement of the public broadcaster or in any editorialdecisions concerning the SABCs programming.


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to administrative, advisory and other skills to represent the publicinterest appropriately. In this regard, Parliament must considerproviding for the following in SABC-speci c legislation:

Appropriate remuneration for SABC-related Board work and

duties above mere attendance at Board meetings; and Appropriate Board staff assistance including: secretarial,

research and advisory capacity.

Further, the structure of the SABC must contain clear lines ofaccountability and reporting as between management and theBoard, and between the SABC as an institution and the public, viaICASA and Parliament and other public accountability mechanisms.

The following is proposed in terms of delineating responsibilitiesbetween the Board and management:

6.2.1. The Board

The Board must:

Be independently minded, uphold the public interest (i.e.should exclude those with commercial or party-political or other

vested interests), and view as its main task the protection of theindependence and the deepening of the public mandate ofthe public broadcaster.

Be responsible for the strategic direction of the publicbroadcaster and hold executive management to account inthis regard.

Report annually to Parliament on its corporate strategies andplans and nancial situation.

Report annually to both ICASA and Parliament on how it ismeeting its mandate (i.e. complying with its Charter) andcomplying with its various licence conditions.

Appoint executive management without external in uence orinput.

Ensure that its operations are open and transparent to thepublic by making copies of Board minutes (excluding only those

matters that are commercially sensitive to the SABC) availableto the public, including on the SABCs website.


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6.2.2. Executive management

Executive management must:

Report to the Board.

Take responsibility for editorial and day-to-day management issues.

20. RECOMMENDATION: ISSUES FOR THE SABCBOARD AND MANAGEMENT

The Board must:

Be appropriately remunerated for SABC-related Boardduties above mere attendance at Board meetings;

Have appropriate Board staff assistance including:secretarial, research and advisory capacity.

Be independently minded, uphold the public interest andview as its main task the protection of the independenceand the deepening of the public mandate of the publicbroadcaster.

Be responsible for the strategic direction of the publicbroadcaster and hold executive management toaccount in this regard.

Report annually to Parliament on its corporate strategiesand plans and nancial situation.

Report annually to both ICASA and Parliament on how it ismeeting its complying with its Charter and complying withits various licence conditions.

Appoint executive management without externalin uence.

Ensure that its operations are open and transparent to thepublic e.g. by making copies of Board minutes availableto the public, including on the SABCs website.

Executive management must:

Report to the Board.

Take responsibility for editorial and day-to-daymanagement issues.


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7. FUNDING7.1. Public broadcasting funding

7.1.1. International background issues

Internationally, public broadcastings traditional funding sources including government grants, licence fees and advertising areunder threat. Funding for public service broadcasting is thus achallenge internationally.

7.1.2. National background issues

In the last few years the SABCs nancial situation has steadilydeteriorated. In 2005/06 the Corporation posted an after-tax pro tof R383 million. By 2007/08 the SABCs pro t had dropped to R111.3million. By 2008/09 the SABC posted pre-tax losses of R784m 3.

There are a number of reasons for this downward spiral but SOSbelieves mis-management and poor governance have been key.

The SABC has allowed its expenditure costs to spiral and its revenuegeneration has not kept abreast.

7.1.3. The SABCs present nancial model 4

Despite the fact that the SABC is a public broadcaster it relies heavilyon advertising. SABC funding is derived from the following mainsources approximately 80% from advertising, 18% from licencefees, 2% from government 5.

4 African Governance Monitoring and Advocacy Project (Afrimap), Open SocietyFoundation for South Africa (OSF-SA) and Open Society Media Programme (OSMP)research report on public broadcasting in Africa Series, 2010, South Africa Report.

5 Information sourced from Kupe, T. (2009), A funding model for public broadcastingpresented to a Save our SABC extended working group meeting focusing on SABC

nance issues on 2 July 2009 at the University of the Witwatersrand; Limpitlaw, J(2009) Presentation on funding models, Save our SABC Position Paper Workshop,January 2009; Lloyd, L. (2009), Public broadcasting: models and mechanisms,

presented to a Save our SABC extended working group meeting focusing on SABCnance issues on 2 July 2009 at the University of the Witwatersrand.6 African Governance Monitoring and Advocacy Project (Afrimap), Open Society

Foundation for South Africa (OSF-SA) and Open Society Media Programme (OSMP)research report on public broadcasting in Africa Series, 2010, South Africa Report.

4

5

4


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Further, cross-subsidisation from the Corporations public-commercialchannels to the public channels is supposed to be an importantadditional funding source for the public channels. However, asdiscussed above, this is not happening.

7.1.4. Considerations for the development of anew funding model

The SOS Coalition has debated a number of different funding models,all of which need to be thoroughly investigated by the Departmentof Communications. The Department must take account of speci c

nancial modelling before any one, or a combination thereof, isadopted.

Appendix 5 contains the SOS Coalition Discussion Document Funding for Public and Community Broadcasting. This documentprovides background to SOSs current and ongoing debates onpotential funding models and areas of agreement in respect offunding for the public broadcaster.

21. RECOMMENDATIONS: SABC FUNDING ISSUES20.1 Parliament and the Ministry and Department of

Finance must ensure that the SABC has suf cientpublic funding to pursue its public service mandate inrespect of programming so that the SABCs editorialindependence is not compromised through advertising-funded programming or product placement.

20.2 Any policy and legislation developed on a fundingmodel must ensure the long term sustainability andeffectiveness of public broadcasting in the digital era.

20.3 An economic modelling exercise is required to ascertainthe actual funding requirements of the SABC. In thisrespect the Ministry and Department of Communicationsneeds to look at the costs of both the SABC ful lling itspublic mandate in the present analogue and futuredigital multi-channel environment.


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7.2. Community broadcasting funding

The SOS Coalition recognises that the geographically-based

community broadcasters are largely nancially unsustainable. Thisparticular sector is plagued by high transmissions costs and fewsources of funding, particularly those in rural or impoverished areas.The Coalition supports the Ministers undertaking to review fundingfor community media and supports the idea of public fundingfor geographically-based community media in particular whileprotecting their editorial independence.

7.3. The Role And Structure Of The MediaDevelopment And Diversity Agency(MDDA)

The MDDA is currently a small and under-resourced statutory bodywhich is funded through voluntary contributions from broadcastersand the print media and also from Parliament and other sources.

It is clear from recent draft Bills (even although most of these havebeen withdrawn) that Government intends the MDDA to play a muchlarger role in respect of community media and public broadcasting.

20.4 An economic modelling exercise is required to beundertaken in respect of the two alternative methods offunding the SABC proposed in Appendix 5.

20.5 New legislation must emphasise transparent SABCaccounting (for example, reporting on percentagespending on programming in terms of genre, language,regional coverage etc.).

20.6 The cross-subsidisation model should be done awaywith.

20.7 The SABC must spend the majority of its funds onprogramming (as opposed to the present practicewhere the major portion of the SABC budget is spent onmanagement and overheads).


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SOS is of the view that the current statutory underpinnings of theMDDA, provided for in the MDDA Act, 2002, are in urgent need ofupdating and amendment, following a transparent, participativeand comprehensive policy review.

The SOS supports the objectives of the MDDA as set out in section3 of the MDDA Act and think that it has a valuable role to play inassisting small media to develop.

However, currently, the level of independence provided in theMDDA Act for the MDDAs Board does not meet international goodpractise standards. The SOS is concerned that the appointmentsprovisions in the MDDA Act do not suf ciently protect the MDDAfrom Government interference because one third of the membersof the Board are not appointed on the recommendation ofParliament. The SOS echoes public concern voiced recently (2011)over appointments to the MDDA of serving government of cials.

Further while the funding by the broadcasting sector to the MDDAis virtually assured through the required Universal Service andAccess Fund Contributions mandated through the ElectronicCommunications Act (ECA) (which allows MDDA contributions to beset off against the statutorily-required fee), the same cannot be saidfor the voluntary contributions by the Print Media. Consequently theSOS would support a legislative amendment to the MDDA Act whichwould require such a contribution by members of the print media. Thiswould enable the MDDA to act without fear of its funding drying up.

7.4. Funding for local content productionindustry

SOS is of the view that the ongoing crises at the SABC and ICASAsfailure to enforce compliance with local content regulations hasresulted in a severe contraction of the local television productionindustry.

We think that a national strategy needs to be developed to revivethe local content production sector. This needs to involve a range ofstakeholders including all broadcasters, ICASA, the Departments of

Communications, Arts and Culture, Trade and Industry, the NationalFilm and Video Foundation and industry representative bodies suchas SASFED and the IPO.


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8. CONCLUSIONThe SOS Coalition would like to highlight the need for evidence-basedresearch and economic modeling to underpin a comprehensive

policy and legislative review process in relation to all three tiers ofbroadcasting, culminating in new public service broadcasting andICT policy and legislation, and ensuring necessary Constitutionalamendments.

The Coalition would like to see the Minister and the Department ofCommunications act on its Constitutional mandate to undertakecomprehensive public consultation in the review process.


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APPENDIX 1:MEMBERSHIP LIST OF THE SOS COALITION

OrganisationsAlternative Information Development Centre (AIDC)

Broadcast, Electronic Media and Allied Workers Union (BEMAWU)

Communication Workers Union (CWU)

Creative Workers Union of South Africa (CWUSA)

Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU)

Federation of South African Unions (FEDUSA)

Freedom of Expression Institute (FXI)

Freedom of Expression Network (FXN)

Gender and Media Southern Africa (Gemsa)

Genderlinks

Institute for the Advancement of Journalism (IAJ)

Link Centre

Media Monitoring Africa (MMA)

Media Workers Association of South Africa (MWASA)

South African Screen Federation (SASFED):

Documentary Filmmakers Association (DFA)

Independent Producers Association (IPO)

Of cial South African Casting Association (OSCA SA)

Personal Managers Association (PMA)

South African Guild of Actors (SAGA)

South African Guild of Editors (SAGE)

Women in Film and Television, SA (WIFTSA)

Women of the Sun (WOS) Writers Guild of South Africa (WGSA)

Workers World Media Productions


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IndividualsMs Ingrid Bruynse Bright Media, independent producers

Mr Indra de Lanerolle Academic, ICT consultant

Mr Martin Dolny Director Joe Slovo FoundationProf Jane Duncan Chair of the Information Society, RhodesUniversity

Prof William Gumede Writer, journalist, academic and freedom ofexpression activist, Development Bank of Southern Africa

Prof Anton Harber Caxton Professor of Journalism, University of theWitwatersrand

Ms. Kerry Harris Independent Development Practioner Prof Tawana Kupe Associate Professor of Media Studies, Deputy ViceChancellor Operations and Finance, University of the Witwatersrand

Ms Justine Limpitlaw Broadcasting lawyer

Mr Raymond Louw Freedom of Expression Institute

Ms Jeanette Minnie of Zambezi FoX International freedom ofexpression and media consultant

Mr Jay Naidoo ex-General Secretary of COSATU and ex-Minister ofCommunications, international activist

Prof Devan Pillay Head of Sociology Department, University of theWitwatersrand


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APPENDIX 2:KEY INTERNATIONAL INSTRUMENTS

KEY INTERNATIONAL INSTRUMENTS, CHARTERS, PROTOCOLS ANDDECLARATIONS THAT ESTABLISH GENERAL DEMOCRATIC MEDIAREGULATORY PRINCIPLES AND DEMOCRATIC BROADCASTINGREGULATORY PRINCIPLES

1. The Windhoek DeclarationThe Windhoek Declaration on Promoting an Independent and

Pluralistic Press was adopted by the participants of a United Nations/ UNESCO Seminar on Promoting an Independent and PluralisticAfrican Press in 1991 and was thereafter endorsed by UNESCOsGeneral Conference (the Windhoek Declaration). The WindhoekDeclaration is an important international statement of the principleon press freedom and the date of its adoption, 3 May 1991, is nowWorld Press Freedom Day annually.

2. The Johannesburg PrinciplesThe Johannesburg Principles on National Security, Freedom ofExpression and Access to Information (the Johannesburg Principles)were adopted by a panel of experts in international law, nationalsecurity and human rights in October 1995 convened by Article19, the International Centre Against Censorship and the Centre forApplied Legal Studies of the University of the Witwatersrand. TheJohannesburg Principles have been endorsed by the United NationsCommittee on Human Rights and by the United Nations Special

Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression.

3. The SADC ProtocolThe Southern African Development Community Protocol on Culture,Information and Sport was adopted in 2000 (the SADC Protocol).

4. The African Charter on BroadcastingThe African Charter on Broadcasting was adopted by theparticipants of a UNESCO conference in 2001 to mark the 10thAnniversary of the Windhoek Declaration (the African Charter onBroadcasting). While the Windhoek Declaration focused mainly on


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the print media, the African Charter on Broadcasting focuses on thebroadcast media.

5. The African Principles of Freedom ofExpression Declaration

The Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression in Africaadopted in 2002 by the African Commission on Human and PeoplesRights, a body established under the auspices of the African Union(the African Principles of Freedom of Expression Declaration).

6. The Access to the Airwaves PrinciplesAccess to the Airwaves: Principles on Freedom of Expression and

Broadcast Regulation is a set of standards on how to promote andprotect independent broadcasting while ensuring that broadcastingserves the interests of the public. The principles were developed byArticle 19, an international NGO working on freedom of expressionissues, as part of its International Standards Series in 2002 (theAccess to the Airwaves Principles).

7. The WSIS Geneva Principles

The Declaration of Principles adopted at the World Summit on theInformation Society (WSIS) held by the United Nations in conjunctionwith the International Telecommunications Union in Geneva 2003(the WSIS Geneva Principles). While the WSIS Geneva Principlesare particularly concerned with issues concerning universal accessto Information Communications Technologies, they do containsome important statements on the media more generally.

8. The Dakar DeclarationThe Dakar Declaration adopted by a UNESCO-sponsored WorldPress Freedom Day conference in Senegal 2005.

9. The African Democracy Charter The African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governancewhich was adopted by the African Union in 2007 (the AfricanDemocracy Charter)

the vision of the sos: support public broadcasting coalition

Documents