The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) has submitted its response to the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa’s (Icasa) proposed licence conditions, saying it looks forward to working with the authority on the matter.
The latest submission is part of a long process to have the SABC comply with the amendments to the Broadcasting Act.
The amendments include splitting the SABC into public broadcasting services (PBS) and commercial broadcasting services (CBS) and setting quotas for local language content.
In a statement, the SABC welcomed Icasa’s approval of key aspects of its amendment application. These include the corporate structure, the allocation of services to the PBS and CBS divisions, and arrangements to ensure an ”arm’s length” commercial relationship between the public and commercial divisions.
The SABC is eager to engage further with the authority on its proposed licence conditions and welcomes the opportunity to do so.
This is in contrast to earlier statements questioning whether Icasa has the authority to tell the SABC what to do, based on constitutionally enshrined freedoms.
”We have had time look at the licence conditions and [in these submissions] we come back to indicate where we think we will be able to comply and where we will not meet the conditions,” SABC spokesperson Paul Setsetse said. — Sapa