/ 14 January 2010

Appoint impartial head of news, DA tells SABC

The Democratic Alliance on Thursday called on the new South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) board to appoint a politically impartial head of news.

“For too long the SABC has created the image of having compromised news values in favour of the African National Congress,” DA spokesperson on communications Niekie van den Berg said in a statement.

The Broadcasting Act compelled the public broadcaster to provide news and public affairs programming that met the highest standards of journalism, which includes fair and unbiased programming, impartiality, balance and independence from the government, commercial and other interests, Van den Berg said.

“The person appointed as head of news must serve as an embodiment of these values and cannot be another Snuki Zikalala who, as SABC news and current affairs head, used his position to protect and further the agenda of the ANC.”

Van den Berg wished the new board, which took office on Thursday, well and urged it to “act in the interest of all South Africans”.

This should be done through good governance and financial prudence to restore confidence in the embattled broadcaster, he said.

He urged the board to tackle the broadcaster’s finances and the appointment of its new head of news “as a matter of urgency”.

“[T]he corporation must commit and strictly adhere to a sound austerity plan to move the SABC from the red to the black.”

The new board also needed to “purge” the SABC of corrupt employees and deal with declining advertising revenue.

The SABC interim board handed the reigns to the newly appointed board on Wednesday. At a press briefing after the handover, it was announced that the new board would start with the appointment of the corporation’s head of news.

The interim board secured an additional R200-million budget from government and a government guarantee of R1,4-billion to help the SABC out if its financial woes. Based on the R1,4-billion guarantee, the SABC had entered into a five-year loan agreement with Nedbank to address liquidity concerns.

During the briefing, new board chairperson Ben Ngubane denied reports of divisions in the SABC board over the appointment of new group CEO Solly Mokoetle. He said both boards, the new and the interim, had confidence in Mokoetle, who took up a five-year contract on January 1. — Sapa