Battle over future of public broadcaster
SOUTH AFRICA: Battle Over Future of Public Broadcaster
Stephanie Nieuwoudt
CAPE TOWN, Feb 3 (IPS) – A powerful coalition of civic organisations is calling for a complete overhaul of the legal framework of the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) to force it to fulfil its public broadcasting mandate.
At a meeting on Jan. 29, the Save our SABC Coalition said they would step up their focus on the SABC Amendment Bill that is awaiting the signature of President Kgalema Motlanthe. However, the coalition is also lobbying for a separate, new SABC Act which addresses programming content and issues like board appointments, transparency and funding models.