Public Service Broadcasting Bill Petition

This campaign is closed.  Please read the MMA submission here

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Not clear on the issues in the Bill? Need a reader-friendly version that highlights the key issues and questions? Read the summary prepared by SOS Supporting Public Broadcasting Coalition experts.

The Public Service Broadcasting Bill has been released by the Department of Communications. The Bill proposes much-needed and widespread fundamental changes to our public broadcasting environment and everyone will be affected. From funding the SABC and community radio to the creation of a public service fund and a charter for the SABC, it is all there!

If you have an interest in media, if you hate or love licence fees, if you have better ideas for funding, if you watch television or listen to the radio, if you care about community broadcasting, if you create local content, if you want a broadcaster that tells your stories and meets your needs, then you need to get involved as this piece of legislation will have a significant effect on all these issues!

Send a letter directly to the Director-General in the Department of Communications

What can you do?

MMA and SOS: Supporting Public Broadcasting welcome the move to revisit our public service broadcasting sector. Our central concern at present is that the Department of Communications has allowed only one month for members of the public to make submissions on all these areas.

UPDATED: MMA and SOS: Supporting Public Broadcasting welcome the move to revisit our public service broadcasting sector. Our central concern at present is that the deadline for submission be extended further to 15 February 2010 and that a proper policy review process is followed because of the fundamental policy shifts the Bill introduces. In line with sound law-making practices, we believe that the policy review process should proceed the drafting of new legislation, including a review of the Broadcasting White Paper, 1998  

We welcome the DOC’s shift in deadline for comment on the Bill from the 7 December 2009 to 15 January 2010. However we note that this extension is over the Christmas period and this certainly significantly hampers cability to research, debate and consult on the issues raised by the Bill. We had originally asked for an extension until the end of March 2010.

We urge you and the Department of Communications to take the time to:

  • Consult all stakeholders;
  • Discuss what the Bill proposes and what we would like to see;
  • Research areas that require further investigation;
  • Debate the issues involved; and
  • Budget and model proposed systems.

Only if we take the time to do all these things can we hope to come up with a public service broadcasting environment that will meet the needs of the South African public.

You can play a role in ensuring we get the public service broadcaster we need.

How?

Simply complete the form below and it will send an email to the Director-General in the Department of Communications asking for an extension for public submission on the Bill a further extension for public submission on the Bill and that a proper policy review process be followed.

What are some of the fundamental shifts?

The SOS: Support Public Broadcasting coalition supports an extension of the public submission period a further extension of the public submission period and a proper policy review process to proceed the drafting of new legislation as the Bill introduces a number of fundamental policy shifts that require significant discussion and debate. These include:

  • The Bill includes two new charters – one for the SABC and one for community broadcasting.
  • The Bill aligns broadcasting to the “developmental goals of the Republic” and the developmental state. Previously broadcasting was aligned to the Constitution.
  • The Bill introduces fundamental shifts to the broadcasting funding environment. It calls for the scrapping of TV licence fees and for amendments to the Income Tax Act of 1962 to ensure that up to 1% of personal income tax is set aside for broadcasting.
  • Also in terms of funding, the Bill introduces a new Public Service Broadcasting Fund to be administered by the Media Development and Diversity Agency (MDDA) requiring that the MDDA Act be amended. The Fund is mandated to fund a wide range of issues, including: the public service division of the SABC, including regional television and international broadcasting services; content development; community broadcasting services; and signal distribution. The MDDA at present funds small commercial and community media and is specifically barred from getting involved in editorial independence issues.
  • The Bill introduces far-reaching new powers for the Minister of Communications. The Minister can now issue directives to the SABC and community media on “any matter connected to public service broadcasting” if the entity is unable to “perform its functions as prescribed in this Act”.
  • Previously the SABC was split into two divisions, public and public-commercial. The SABC is now to be divided into three separate divisions, public, commercial and international.
  • The Bill designates Sentech as the common signal distribution carrier, requiring amendments to the Electronic Communications Act of 2005.
  • Finally, and very importantly, community media’s role has been reconceptualised in the Bill. A new charter has been introduced for the community media sector specifying the ways in which the sector needs to be organised. Furthermore, the Bill ensures community media forge partnerships with their local municipalities.

Given these major policy shifts, we believe that the period and process for debate of just over a month is not sufficient. Further, we wish to place on record that we are not sure why a Bill of this magnitude and reach needs to be passed in such haste.

We strongly believe that the present financial crisis at the SABC is primarily a management crisis and can be dealt with under the present legislation. We believe that the interim Board has done an excellent job in beginning to stabilise the SABC. Further, we have faith that the new permanent Board will continue this process. The drafting of new legislation needs to be a separate and parallel process. We believe that rushing this new legislation may very well create new crises for the SABC.
 
Take the time, get involved, make a positive contribution and complete the form now!

To read the Bill, visit http://www.info.gov.za/view/DownloadFileAction?id=110838.

Your letter to the Director-General