‘SABC does not belong to one person or group of people‚’ academics say
The country’s top educators in journalism and media have joined forces to lash the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) and have asked Parliament’s portfolio committee on communications to urgently convene a public hearing into the matter.
They were responding to what they have called “the arbitrary suspension and firing of some of the leading journalists at the SABC”.
The strongly worded statement was signed by more than 75 high-profile lecturers and professors‚ including outspoken University of Cape Town academic Adam Haupt (an associate professor in the university’s Centre for Film and Media Studies)‚ public figure Ashraf Jamal (media studies‚ Cape Peninsula University of Technology) and well-known author and academic Keyan G Tomaselli.
The group candidly described the SABC as being in contravention of the law and having “turned into a place where those who try to maintain a sense of ethics and professionalism are harassed‚ suspended and dismissed. It has turned into a place where the very basics of the law – complying with the regulatory authority‚ Icasa – are flouted.”
They said the SABC is a “national resource” and “does not belong to one person or even a small group of people”.
They added: “This was evident as far back as 1993 when the ANC and civil society groups‚ which opposed censorship‚ insisted at the constitutional negotiations in Kempton Park that the legislation governing the broadcaster be the first to change so that a free and fair election in 1994 could be guaranteed.
“The SABC is not only flouting the law‚ but has violated the entire vision of democracy and constitutionalism that brought it into being.”
They said this was not the type of media environment they wanted to see their graduates working in and thus “call on the SABC to reinstate the fired journalists with immediate effect‚ and for the portfolio committee on communications to urgently convene a public hearing into the matter”.
Tiso Black Star Group Digital reported on Thursday that the portfolio committee is “deeply concerned by developments at the SABC as reported in the media”‚ but will only get around to dealing with them in a month’s time.
Communications Minister Faith Muthambi will appear before the Portfolio Committee on Communications on August 23 “to report on the status of all entities that report to her‚ including the SABC”. — Tiso Black Star Group Digital/Sunday Times