Pretoria - The Ministry of Communications said in a statement on Monday that it has chosen not to meddle in the internal matters of the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) that have been reported on in recent weeks.
“We deliberately decided not to pursue an interventionist stance as the Ministry. Our view is that, these are in fact operational issues which need to be resolved by the Board as the accounting authority for the Corporation,” said Faith Muthambi, Minister of Communications.
She added that this hands-off approach demonstrated the Ministry’s confidence in the Board.
“Failure to observe this key constitutional and policy provision would, in fact, render the Ministry as interfering with the duties of the Board and management of the public broadcaster. This is something we have not done in the past, and that we do not wish to do in the future,” she added.
The mandate of the SABC is set out in the Broadcasting Act no 4 of 1999 and in the 1998 White Paper on Broadcasting Policy.
In addition, section 14(1) makes provisions for the affairs of the corporation to be administered by the Executive Committee, consisting of the Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO), the Chief Operations Officer (COO), the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and no more than 11 other members.
It is also worth recalling that the process to review the SABC’s editorial policies was initiated back in the 2013-2014 financial year.
Further, the SABC Board sign-off the editorial policies not the Ministry of Communications. – SAnews.gov.za
