Marion Edmunds
THE South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) has appointed a well-paid, full-time lobbyist at Parliament to protect its interests during negotiations on the parastatal’s financial independence, among other things.
Tango Lamani, who has had two years work experience as a media liaison for the Constitutional Assembly, took up the post of SABC Parliamentary Liaison in July to monitor the legislative process and lobby parliamentarians on behalf of the SABC.
”The pace of development in Parliament is such that if you don’t have a person close to the process, you can lose out on a great deal,” said SABC’s group manager of communications and marketing, Enoch Sithole.
”There are a number of Bills to be passed which will affect the industry and it is important we monitor these developments closely.”
Sithole dismissed criticism by SABC’s political staffers that Lamani’s appointment could compromise the editorial independence of SABC news as well as interfere with news coverage.
He argued that Lamani’s job was a necessity as it would be ludicrous to use SABC reporters to do the work Lamani was doing, such as setting up meetings with politicians and liaising on legislation and appointment of the board members with the portfolio committee of communications.
Sithole said that the dates set for parliamentary hearings on legislation were often changed at the drop of a hat and the relevant people in the SABC head office in Johannesburg would hear of this too late, adding that Lamani’s role was therefore vital in keeping up-to-date with happenings in and around Parliament.
Lamani says his position is an inherited one as he follows on the heels of Pieter Cronje, the previous SABC parliamentary liaison who quit his job in 1992. However, the revival of the post after four years says much about the current vulnerability of the SABC, as well as a great deal about the accessibility of the parliamentary process to the public.
Lamani was appointed by Sithole after working for him at the Constitutional Assembly. (Sithole’s department, with about 40 staff members, cost the SABC this year R24-million. However, he said this week that it was unlikely he would be allocated as much money again. Half his budget is spent on marketing and publicity projects, the other half on running costs, travelling expenses and salaries.)
Lamani, under Sithole’s direction, is focusing particularly on negotiations relating to the financing of the public broadcaster by the government, and the manner in which it will be done.
Also, the task team on government communications (Comtask) has, according to Lamani, proposed the setting up of a forum of all stakeholders which would meet twice a year to allocate money to SABC projects.
Sithole is critical of such a model, saying he would prefer a BBC-style relationship with the government, where a pact is made with the nation and funds are provided by the government to fulfil the obligations.
”We have a few problems with the Comtask recommendation. If committees of stakeholders discuss budgetary issues, the discussion must be confined strictly to the budget. If this committee started to approve projects, we would feel nervous that the government could be interfering.
”The SABC will propose that we sign a pact with the government which would set out the SABC’ s obligation to the nation. Then the government would fund us on the basis that we fulfil our mandate.”
Lamani said he would also be focusing on the passage of legislation governing the public broadcaster, which will be debated next year, on the selection of the new SABC board which is currently under way, and the dispute between SABC and the IBA over rights to televise sporting events.
l The SABC is to change its financial calender to suit the government’s because of its future dependency on state coffers. Enoch Sithole said the corporation knew the government would give them money at the next budget allocation, but they still did not know how much.
He said the SABC was preparing a budget for R2,1-billion for the next financial year and at a rough estimate, the SABC could probably provide about R1,5-billion of that on its own, leaving a shortfall of about R0,6- billion
”The government will decide what they want to pay for. For example, they might pay for all provincial broadcasting and all local content broadcasts. We will have to see in March,” he said. The money from the sale of the SABC six regional radio stations is also still in the government’s hands and the SABC has to apply for the money, Sithole said.