South Africa’s SOS: Support Broadcasting Coalition has issued an open letter to Minister of Communications Dina Pule calling for the immediate prioritisation of the broadcasting policy review process.
The letter reads: The SOS: Support Public Broadcasting Coalition has noted with grave concern the Department of Communications’ announcement that they will be tabling the Electronic Communications and ICASA Amendment Bills before the end of March 2012.
Since the inception of the Coalition in June 2008 we have noted the urgent need for a comprehensive broadcasting policy review process to ensure alignment of policy, legislation and regulations in the sector and further to deal with gaps, contradictions and new digital developments in the environment. We have thus noted the importance of reviewing key pieces of legislation such as the Electronic Communications Act, 2005 and the ICASA Act, 2000 as part of this review.
It is important to note that the Ministry of Communications has itself confirmed the urgent need for this review. Public announcements were made in this regard by Minister Roy Padayachie in November 2010. These were then re-confirmed in a meeting with the SOS Coalition in September 2011. Minister Padayachie at this point promised a full Green Paper / White Paper process followed by the amendment of present legislation and the passing of new broadcasting legislation in line with this review. The broadcasting review was then reconfirmed by your Ministry in an important press briefing in early 2012.
Given these commitments and public announcements we are therefore surprised and concerned that you would be introducing amendments to the ICASA and Electronic Communications Amendment Bills before launching the review.
The Coalition notes these Bills do not include only small technical changes. Both Bills, when introduced previously, included significant and substantive changes to the broadcasting and telecommunications sectors.
The ICASA Amendment Bill, 2010, for instance, introduced a number of new Ministerial powers. At the time the SOS Coalition noted its concerns that these powers could be legally challenged for violating ICASA’s constitutionally-protected independence. Some of the proposed amendments included the following:
• The Chairperson of Council must “perform such functions as the Minister may determine, subject to prior notification being given to Parliament”.
• The Minister will determine what roles councillors play on Council.
• The Complaints and Compliance Committee members will be nominated by the Minister in consultation with Parliament.
Also, the Electronic Communications Amendment Bill, 2011, included a number of substantive amendments. These, for instance, included the following:
– Changes to the definition of community of interest broadcasters, compelling them to be “geographically bound’.
– Shifts to the ICASA’s relationship to the Minister of Communications as regards policy making. Originally ICASA needed to consider the Minister’s directives, now ICASA would need to act in accordance with these directives.
– Further, the Bill introduced a far greater role for the Ministry with regard to the management of frequency spectrum.
Significant time and resources have been spent over the years on various flawed legislative processes. Two Bills – the Draft Public Service Broadcasting Bill and Electronic Communications Amendment Bill – have been withdrawn since 2009. We are very concerned that further public resources may be expended in a fruitless and wasteful manner if these Bills are tabled. The Coalition believes that the Ministry needs to urgently take the lead on an inclusive, participatory broadcasting policy review. However, if the Ministry has reversed this decision on this review it is important to explain why and how the Ministry intends to proceed in terms of building a strong, stable, coherent broadcasting sector. As a Coalition we seek to support your Ministry in ensuring an effective public broadcaster, hence we urgently seek to meet with you to get clarity on this situation.
The SOS Coalition represents a number of trade unions including COSATU, COSATU affiliates CWU, FEDUSA, BEMAWU and MWASA; independent film and TV production sector organisations including the South African Screen Federation (SASFED); and a host of NGOs and CBOs including the Freedom of Expression Institute (FXI) and Media Monitoring Africa (MMA); as well as a number of academics and freedom of expression activists.
