Boksburg - Government will soon hold a consultation process in the community broadcast sector on the draft positions related to community radio and television support strategy.
Communications Minister Faith Muthambi made the announcement on Friday at the opening of the Media Development and Diversity Agency (MDDA) Community Broadcast Stakeholder Engagement Workshop in Boksburg, east of Johannesburg.
“In due course, my officials will consult the sector on the draft positions related to the Community Radio and Television Support Strategy in all nine provinces.
“We would like to finalise this so we can submit it to Cabinet for it to become a national support strategy of government once we have reconfirmed with you our preliminary views,” the Minister said.
Switching off analogue signals
The Minister said she is also proud to announce that government will be switching off analogue signals in the SKA area, as they have finalised allocating digital set top boxes to these communities.
“What continues to pain me is that most of them are [only] starting to receive clear signals and television channels from government.
“The farmers are also relieved that they will receive financial relief, as they were paying for low-power transmitters, which have been done away with. They are [now] part of the larger South Africa.
“Most of them are also happy that the radio stations are going to play 90% local music and that from the 1st of July 2016, their television channels will be largely made up of South African and African content,” she said.
Print media colloquium
During her Budget Vote Speech, Minister Muthambi announced that she will be hosting a print media colloquium, where she will address issues related to print media ownership, ownership of printing presses, measurement of circulation, distribution channels and assessment of regulatory instruments to regulate the affairs of media practitioners.
Leading to this colloquium, Minister Muthambi urged community broadcasters to expect to commence with discussions so that government can hear their respective communities’ views on this matter.
She said some communities informed her during her izimbizo that they feel the voice of the poor and rural people is marginalised in the mainstream media.
With regard to local content in community media, Minister Muthambi said: “My view is that the community broadcasting sector can go up to 95%.
“You can play your local talents and local community music instead of sounding like commercial American broadcasters.
“I was in Russia (recently) and I did not hear anything African on their television and radio stations. They broadcasted foreign content very early in the morning or late at night. They were playing more European sounds. The community broadcasting sector can do the same by promoting African content.”
The Minister said working together with MDDA, ICASA and SENTECH, they are now coordinating different support programmes for the sector across government to ensure that there is a holistic approach, no duplication and that resources are used effectively.
“We are also going to strengthen the licensing and monitoring mechanisms of ICASA. ICASA and MDDA will in future intervene in a decisive manner where it will be encouraged to refuse applications if a licensee has not complied with rules and regulations; or intervene in situations where governance and compliance challenges are experienced,” she said.
Government to facilitate development of digital content
Minister Muthambi said government will continue to facilitate the development of digital content hubs and the Digital Radio Policy to promote content development by a range of producers across the country that will be fit for the digital platforms.
The Minister said the mentality of entitlement and not having consequence management must end in community broadcasters.
“Stations cannot continue demanding money from government when they have been at fault and keep on changing board members so that they can have access to government funding.
“Once we fund you, because the que is long, we cannot overlook others and prioritise you because you have changed your boards or management. You will have to ensure that you raise funding from other sources.
“No more double dipping or lying to political representatives because you have abused your funding or resources provided to you by the MDDA, the Department of Communications or the Government Communication and Information System,” the Minister said. - SAnews.gov.za
