Pretoria - The proposed amendments to the Broadcasting Act, tabled by government, are in line with the vision of ensuring universal access to broadcasting services in the country, says Communications Minister Faith Muthambi.
“The proposed amendments to the Broadcasting Act which we’ve tabled as government are in line with our vision of ensuring universal access to broadcasting services in South Africa. The proposed changes will strengthen the SABC [South African Broadcasting Corporation] and better allow it to fulfil its public broadcasting service mandate,” she said.
The Minister encouraged all interested parties to participate in the Parliamentary processes to deliberate on the proposed Broadcasting Amendment Bill, 2015.
“We also challenge all stakeholders to provide concrete proposals on how we can create a public broadcasting system we should be proud of as South Africans,” she said.
Minister Muthambi said government is convinced that this change will ensure a more robust, relevant and sustainable SABC.
The proposed changes are systematic in nature and take into account all aspects related to the public broadcaster.
“In the last decade, the SABC has had to navigate through several challenges and there were times when boardroom issues took centre stage. Unfortunately, these challenges sometimes hindered the ability of the SABC to discharge its public broadcasting service mandate,” she said.
The Minister said the proposed amendment to the Act will allow government to develop and implement a stable corporate governance model, which ensures the long-term stability and sustainability of the SABC.
The process will allow for introspection on the size, selection process and tenure of future boards, and is a vital element in ensuring that the SABC is fit for its purpose in the unfolding media landscape.
One of the proposed changes is to reduce the number of non-executive board members from 19 to nine and, according to the Minister, the rationale for this change is to strengthen the board and to streamline its operation.
“Our experience over the years has shown that a large board is expensive to maintain. We also want to avoid situations where members of the board are lobbied by various competing outside interest groups.
“Large boards can become dysfunctional in cases where the competing interests of members take precedence over board matters.
“Other good news is that the proposed changes in the Bill seek to ensure that the board of the corporation is composed of persons with a range of skills and expertise required to ensure optimal operational efficiency, so that the corporation is not left behind in the digital era,” she said.
Minister Muthambi said government would like to see a situation where the process of appointing and removing the non-executive board members is expedited without compromising the participation of the general public in the process.
To achieve this, the Bill proposes that a nominations committee be formed to select future boards. This committee will screen and interview prospective board members, and will recommend the names of persons to be appointed as non-executive members of the board.
To ensure the integrity and independence of the nominations committee, the chairperson of the nominations committee will be a retired Judge, who will be appointed in consultation with the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services.
The powers to appoint and remove non-executive board members still remains with the President and the President will use his or her discretion in the appointment of the chairperson and deputy chairperson of the board.
The President will continue to appoint the candidates from the persons recommended by the Minister of Communications following the recommendations by the nominations committee.
This is in line with international best practice for public broadcasting. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation Act of 1993 provides for a merit based appointment of non-executive directors and to ensure this, the Act provides for the establishment of a nomination panel to conduct a selection process for each appointment of a director and make a written report on candidates who are nominated for the appointment.
The Royal Charter for the continuance of the British Broadcasting Corporation, 2006, also provided for establishment of a nomination committee for the appointment of non-executive members of the BBC Executive Board.-SAnews.gov.za
