advertisement
SABC
Facebook
X
LinkedIn
WhatsApp
Reddit

“Hlaudi must go” protesters to descend on SABC offices across SA

“Hlaudi must go” is the message from protesters picketing at SABC offices in three cities across the country this morning. They are also demanding an end to censorship.

Right2Know, the SOS Coalition, Media Monitoring Africa and the Freedom of Expression Institute are protesting at the SABC’s offices in Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg. The group plans to hand over a memorandum with a list of demands.

“The SABC was transformed from [the] propaganda machine of the apartheid state to become a public broadcaster with a mandate to service the information needs of the population in a democratic South Africa,” Right2Know said in a statement.

Worsening censorship

“In terms of its charter, the SABC is supposed to enjoy “freedom of expression and journalistic, creative and programming independence as enshrined in the Constitution.” Yet under the heavy-handed and incompetent management of Hlaudi Motsoeneng we have seen worsening censorship. Motsoeneng has been given sweeping powers to make editorial decisions – powers that he should not have – and he is a danger to the public broadcaster’s integrity and independence,” the group added.

Right2Know explained that South Africa has become a protest hot spot, and taking to the streets and becoming violent and destroying property is often the only way in which underprivileged citizens feel they can force government to respond to them.

Not the SABC’s place

However, it is not the SABC’s place to try and cover such incidents up and shy away from the truth, the group said.

The SABC is expected to explain its reasons behind the ban via a submission it will make to Icasa today.

This after Media Monitoring Africa filed a complaint against the decision at the beginning of this month.

Read the full full text of the memorandum below:

END CENSORSHIP!

The SABC is being turned into a propaganda machine for the state and ruling party and in recent times we have seen numerous attempts to censor content that embarrasses or is critical of the ruling elite.

Programmes and documentaries like Miners Shot Down, Project Spear, The Editors and On The Record have been canned because of their critical content.

Among the most alarming recent developments is the decision to ban coverage of violent protest.

We will not allow the SABC to whitewash reality and censor footage to protect the powerful. Censorship and sunshine journalism must stop!

WITHDRAW THE REVISED EDITORIAL POLICY!

After years of delays, the SABC has quietly finalised and implemented a new editorial policy, but it has failed to properly undertake the public consultation process that it laid out and is obliged to follow through on.

The views of the public clearly do not matter to the public broadcaster’s management.

The SABC is a critical institution that has by far the widest reach of any media organisation in the country. Millions of South Africans depend on it for their information needs and it therefore must be accountable to the public.

As a public broadcaster, the SABC has a duty to inform the public, uphold free expression and deliver news that is accurate, fair and impartial and programming that deals with matters of public interest.

It is a basic principle of ethical media practice that management should not be allowed to interfere in editorial. But the new policy says that content should be referred upwards for approval.

It gives Hlaudi sweeping powers to interfere with the work of editors and the final say on any editorial decision. The new policy must be withdrawn and redrafted after a full and meaningful public participatory process!

HLAUDI MUST GO!

SABC COO Hlaudi Motsoeneng is unfit for the job.

The Public Protector found in 2014 that he lied about his qualifications; that he purged senior staff; that he ignored regulations by increasing his salary from R1.5 million to R2.4 million and he hiked the salaries of other staff, inflating the salary bill by R29 million at the struggling broadcaster.

Last year, the High Court ruled that his permanent appointment as COO was ‘unlawful and irrational’.

And yet, Hlaudi remains in his seat, steering the SABC from one crisis to another. Why? Because he is blindly loyal to those above, like Minister Faith Muthambi, who keep him in power.

We do not want political lackeys running this crucial public institution.

Hlaudi shows no respect for the ideal of editorial independence, he views good journalists and the profession of journalism with contempt, and his actions are consistently in violation of the Broadcasting Act and SABC Charter. Hlaudi must go! The SABC can expect further mass action until our demands are met.

[ENDS]

 

advertisement

About Author

advertisement

Related News

advertisement