Justin Pearce
Those who’ve been worried about a return to PW Botha- era broadcasting can sleep peacefully once more. The government’s request for airtime on SABC radio and television is unlikely to get past the SABC board when it comes up for discussion next Wednesday.
Although the matter has not yet been formally presented to the board, board members from across the political spectrum who spoke to the Mail & Guardian were unanimous in rejecting the idea that the government have a regular airtime slot to communicate its view of
“With the history of government pressure on broadcasting, it would be bad to introduce the proposal at this stage,” said board member Professor Pieter Potgieter, reflecting the fears of his colleagues that the acceptance of the proposal would be mean backtracking on the gains that the SABC has made in terms of editorial independence since 1990.
Board member Sheila Sisulu said the SABC had a duty to inform the public of government and other news, and that she was not sure of the details of the request from government. “Is it that we are not informing people — or is it the government wanting to put its own view? If the intention is to put the government’s view I’d be very worried.”
Deputy President Thabo Mbeki’s representative Ricky Naidoo said Mbeki’s office did not have an opinion on government airtime, and that the request was at the initiative of the South African Communication Service – – the successor to the old Bureau for Information for which Mbeki now holds political responsibility.
SACS director David Venter said that empowering people involved keeping them informed on the workings of government — and that the SABC made its editorial decisions on the basis of newsworthiness which would not necessarily communicate the full picture.
SABC board member Dr Ruth Teer-Tomaselli replied that SACS had a generous budget, and if it wanted to communicate its point of view without editorial intervention it could pay for advertising time.