Ferial Haffajee
The government will tax private radio and television stations, as well as signal distributors, to fund local-content production.
A draft White Paper on broadcasting says a fund will be established to subsidise local producers.
It is understood that private owners may have to pay up to 1% of their profits, which translates into many millions of rands, into the fund. Most of the money is likely to come from M-Net and its signal distributor, Orbicom. In future, new radio stations like Yfm and e.tv – which are not yet profitable – will also pay into the fund.
The government has also recommended that foreign ownership of local radio and television stations be hiked to 33%, up from the 20% which foreign magnates are now allowed to hold. But local cross-media ownership rules will stay the same for now.
The government is also about to upset M-Net’s apple-cart with a recommendation that it be “encouraged” to migrate to satellite – which is more expensive – or cable distribution.
And the hastily hatched privatisation of the SABC has been put on hold. “It is anticipated privatisation will not take place until the impact on the market of the private free-to-air television service can be properly assessed,” the White Paper recommends.
Meanwhile, the government will clip the Independent Broadcasting Authority’s (IBA)wings. The regulator will only have licensing, monitoring and administrative functions.
Its policy role will be taken over by the government, and Minister of Posts, Telecommunications and Broadcasting Jay Naidoo will have greater authority over the regulator and the SABC.
In a move which will not make many SABC managers happy, Naidoo will control its purse strings. His decision to hold on to the profits from the sale of radio stations like Highveld precipitated a run-in with the SABC.
The draft White Paper says: “The government must retain overall budgetary control of the SABC’s expenditures,” adding that Parliament can attach any conditions “it sees fit” to the granting of public money to the SABC.
A charter between Parliament and the corporation, setting out the broadcasters’ role and responsibilities, is recommended. But this will exclude the SABC’s commercial functions.
The government will take an immediate hand in restructuring the SABC into a two- armed broadcaster, with its public broadcasting and commercial services separated. Any SABC profits will be paid into a national revenue fund, and the SABC will have to motivate government funding.
Naidoo also intends to call the shots at the IBA. The draft White Paper decrees that any surplus funds the regulator makes must be paid over to government.
The IBA’s pay-scales – which are far higher than those of the civil service – will be cut. This could make it difficult for the regulator to attract skilled staff to replace the deluge of employees who have quit in the past year.
The White Paper envisages a range of new funds and agencies. In addition to the local- production fund, it moots a broadcast management agency, a community development trust – to fund community stations – and a controversial broadcasting school.