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<div class="gmail-row gmail-fullscreen-title"><div class="gmail-col-xs-12 gmail-post-grid"><h1 id="gmail-content_title">SABC editorial hearings draw to a close, public submissions extended</h1>
<p class="gmail-article-meta"><span class="gmail-meta-author"><a class="gmail-content_place_line_author" href="https://mg.co.za/author/sarah-smit">Sarah Smit</a></span>
<time class="gmail-content_place_line" datetime="2018-07-31">31 Jul 2018 15:28</time></p>
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<a href="https://mg.co.za/article/2018-07-31-sabc-editorial-hearings-draw-to-a-close-but-public-submissions-extended" title="">
<img class="gmail-img-fluid" src="https://cs.mg.co.za/crop/content/images/2016/06/14/sabc3255.jpg/800x450/" alt="Once the final submissions are made by August 31, the public’s input will be consolidated internally and a final draft will go through approval by the board and finally sent to Icasa. (Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)">
<figcaption class="gmail-main-caption"><p><span>Once the final submissions are
made by August 31, the public’s input will be consolidated internally
and a final draft will go through approval by the board and finally sent
to Icasa. (Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)</span></p></figcaption>
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<section class="gmail-content_body gmail-group">
<div id="gmail-body_content"><p>The deadline for written submissions
from the public regarding the SABC’s draft editorial policies has been
extended to August 31.</p><p>The extension was announced during the
final round of the consultations on the SABC’s draft editorial policies
in Johannesburg on Tuesday.</p><p>The public hearings, which traversed
all nine provinces, is the public broadcaster’s most extensive process
of its kind since the SABC’s current editorial policy was implemented in
2004. </p><p>An effort to review this policy was embarked in 2013,
which culminated in the 2016 policies that were filed with the
Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) in 2016.</p><p>However, a complaint lodged by <a href="https://www.soscoalition.org.za/" target="_blank">SOS Support Public Broadcasting Coalition</a> and <a href="https://www.mediamonitoringafrica.org/" target="_blank">Media Monitoring Africa</a>
resulted in the reviewed policies being rejected by Icasa on the basis
of the SABC’s failure to ensure that public participation in the
development of the policies.</p><div id="gmail-inarticle_wrapper_div"></div><p>On
the public broadcaster’s rejected 2016 amendments, the SABC’s general
manager policy and regulatory affairs, Philly Moilwa, said: “It is very
difficult to pinpoint where the SABC failed in its public
consultations, because this was not prescribed.
All the law says is that there must be public consultations, but it
doesn’t say to what extent.” </p><p>“What was the biggest issue in 2016
was that the changes in the reviewed policy was not what people wanted.
You see, it’s not really about the final document but about whether it
is reflective of people’s views,” Moilwa added.</p><p>Notably, the
Johannesburg hearings were poorly attended, to the extent that Moilwa
opened his presentation apologising for the dismal turnout. He noted
that this was the first time during the public consultation process that
the editorial policy project team struggled with attendance — a fact
that Moilwa said was “very interesting for Gauteng”.</p><p>“In Gauteng
people already have access to information, so maybe they already know
about this process. And also what we’ve realised is that if people don’t
have burning issues to air, naturally they don’t attend the hearings,”
he said.</p> <div id="gmail-div-gpt-ad-2952056074294-2"><div id="gmail-google_ads_iframe_/5503/mg.online/News_National_2__container__" style="border:0pt none;display:inline-block;width:300px;height:250px"></div></div> <p>In
his presentation Moilwa noted that the policies at hand were never
going to undergo a complete overhaul. “If it ain’t broken, why fix it?
he said.</p><h4><a href="https://mg.co.za/article/2016-03-17-sabc-blatantly-ignores-public-protectors-report" target="_blank">READ MORE: SABC blatantly ignores public protector’s report</a></h4><p>Moilwa
called the 2004 policies robust and forward-looking, but added that the
purpose of the exercise has been to figure out if they are still
relevant.</p><p>He said that throughout the hearings, the major call has been for a focus on implementation.</p><p>Broadly
the policy review has focussed on issues of programming, news,
language, equitable access, local content, religious and educational
broadcasting.</p><p>Moilwa noted that the issues regarding the
broadcaster’s language policy and how the SABC covers news and current
affairs have been highly disputed throughout the hearings. </p><p>The
SABC’s capacity to represent South Africa’s 11 official languages on
only three television channels has been a sticking point for the
broadcaster, Moilwa said.</p><p>He noted for the 20-strong audience that
a parallel inquiry into editorial interference has been dealing with
the institutional problems plaguing the SABC’s editorial independence.</p><p>“The main intention here is to restore public trust,” Moilwa said of the consultations.</p><p>The policy team has received over 250 written submissions, with robust public hearings in other parts of the country.</p><p>Those who attended the hearings raised a wide range of complaints and suggestions. </p><p>The
problem of corruption at local radio stations, the SABC’s intellectual
property policy, the archival of “golden oldies”, the SABC’s role in
nation-building ahead of the elections, the coverage of minority sports
and merchandising were all raised by those attending the hearings. </p><p>From
the back of the scantily populated auditorium, Hassim Phosa reiterated
the major sentiment in the room: “You have very nice policies, but you
don’t implement them.”</p><p>In closing, Moilwa once again drew
attention to the near-empty room, concluding that the hearings ought to
be about “quality over quantity”.</p><p>Once the final submissions are
made by August 31, the public’s input will be consolidated internally
and a final draft will go through approval by the board and finally sent
to Icasa.</p><p>“So far nothing extraordinary has come up. People have
just repeated what most have said,” Moilwa concluded about the
Johannesburg hearings. </p></div></section>
<br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature">=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+<br><br> Harold F. Schiffman<br><br>Professor Emeritus of <br> Dravidian Linguistics and Culture <br>Dept. of South Asia Studies <br>University of Pennsylvania<br>Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305<br><br>Phone: (215) 898-7475<br>Fax: (215) 573-2138 <br><br>Email: <a href="mailto:haroldfs@gmail.com" target="_blank">haroldfs@gmail.com</a><br><a href="http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/" target="_blank">http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/</a> <br><br>-------------------------------------------------</div>
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