ICASA on sports broadcasting regulations & transformation objectives; MDDA on Covid-19 issues; 2020/21 Quarter 1 performance; with Minister

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Communications and Digital Technologies

04 September 2020
Chairperson: Mr B Maneli (ANC)
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Meeting Summary

The Committee convened on a virtual platform to be briefed by the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa and the Media Development Diversity Agency.

The meeting started with the presentation from the Authority’s Council. The Minister gave an overview report of what has happened during the process of the finalising the Sports Broadcasting regulations. The Authority expanded further on the process for the regulations as well as its endeavours regarding community broadcasting and an update on the spectrum licencing process.

ICASA reported that along with broadcasters and sporting bodies, it had engagements with other interested parties beyond the sporting bodies. The consultations were still in progress but were nearing completion. There will be a release of a second draft based on the reviews and the consultations with the interested parties.

Approximately just fewer than 200 community radios have been licensed across the different provinces. The Authority has established a new regulatory framework for the licensing of community broadcasting services for both sound and television. In terms of the framework, they outlined the process through which they would take applicants through a pre-registration process. They received more than 90 applications from the last pre-registration notice they published in November of the previous year.

The discussion relating to the ICASA presentation became heated as a Member of the Committee expressed their views regarding the Minister’s actions and the manner in which she handled the Authority’s councilor vacancy. There were a few disruption during the meeting, where there was a demand that the Minister respond to whether they would apologise for the mistake they had made during the process. The Minister was also asked about the allegations about her husband’s connections with some of the entities under her portfolio.

Members raised concerns about the temporary spectrum on whether it may have given some industry players an unfair advantage. They also asked for clarity with regards to the status and timeframe of the temporary spectrum.

There were also questions asked around the rapid deployment and the Wireless Open Access Network with concerns raised about the processes of the rapid deployment, especially regarding private property.

There was an extensive discussion relating to the ICASA presentation where the Council further expanded on the contents of their presentation, following the questions that were raised. There was a sense that Members were not satisfied with the given responses as the Members, in their follow-up questions tended to repeat their initial questions.

The Media Development Divergence Agency presentation followed after the conclusion on the discussion of the ICASA presentation.

The Agency reported on what has happened during the Covid-19 period.  After the national lockdown announcement, the Agency launched a R20 million Emergency Relief Fund on 30 March. The first half of the fund was used to fund 115 broadcasters and 116 print projects. The second half was launched in May, where R50 000 was given to community broadcasters and R20 000 was given to community print. About R11.8 million was disbursed to SENTECH to qualifying projects. With regard to the signal distribution, the Agency said that it will try to find possibilities to enable some of the projects to provide it. They reported that they have set aside about R7 million for signal distribution and will continue to assist the projects so not to put a strain on SENTECH. The Agency has also attempted to source funds from other organisations, but they were not able to secure funds from those except from MultiChoice.

Members mostly welcomed the report of the Agency. They enquired about the Agency’s collaborations with other organisations as well as how some of those collaborations were going to benefit the community media. There were also questions relating to the use of the funds by the beneficiaries and the measures put in place to track how the funds were being used.

Following the discussion on the Agency’s briefing, the Committee moved on to the next agenda item which was the adoption of reports. After briefly reviewing the reports, the Chairperson suggested that the report be circulated to the Members and that the report along with minutes will be taken to the first meeting when they get back.

The remaining Members in the meeting shared the sentiment of the Chairperson regarding the funding issue and agreed that it is a point that needed clarity. They also agreed on the suggested way forward.

The Chairperson concluded by saying that they will submit to the Secretariat and in their first meeting, they will start with the report and the minutes.

Meeting report

Opening remarks by the Chairperson

The Chairperson opened the virtual meeting, welcoming the Members, the Committee support staff, the Minister as well as the delegations from the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) and the Media Development and Diversity Agency (MDDA). He also welcomed the general public members who were following the meeting from various platforms.

The Committee Secretary put forward the apologies from the Deputy Minister, Ms P Kekane; the Minister in the Presidency, Mr J Mthembu, and the Deputy Minister in the Presidency.

He said that he was saddened by the passing of former ICASA councilor, Ms Bontlenyana Mokhele. He highlighted that she was also known to have been in the sector and Department for some time and had assisted the Minister of Communication in 2010.  She would have been the last candidate to be interviewed for ICASA, for the new term. He expressed that the Committee should send its condolences to Ms Mokhele’s family.

He acknowledged the apologies and introduced the meeting agenda. He also acknowledged that they were experiencing connectivity issues in the different areas mostly linked to load shedding and this may lead to Members struggling to keep their cameras on when they speak. He asked that Members should indicate if they have connectivity problems so it does not seem as though they are non-compliant as the broadcasters would usually want to see the speakers.

The Committee Chairperson handed over to the Minister of Communications.

Minister’s remarks

The Minister of Communications, Ms Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams, thanked the Committee for the opportunity to present the work done by the Authority in relation to some finalisation of the Sport Broadcasting Rights. She said that ICASA had briefed the Portfolio Committee on the progress and, key to that, was the description of the legislative background motivating for the review, the purpose and objects of the regulations. The process followed the proposed list, dispute resolution and penalties. The Authority informed the Committee that the reviewed regulations will be presented to the Minister on 12 March and will be subsequently gazetted.

She recognised that the Committee had expressed concerns to whether the reviewed regulations had received enough public participation and suggested that ICASA halt the presentation to the Minister. However, the Committee had been advised that this was a legislative process and could not be halted. Following that, ICASA then wrote to the Minister on 1 July, attaching the Draft Sport Broadcasting Services Amendment Regulations 2020 and an explanatory memorandum in terms of Section 4 (5) of the Electronic Communications Amendment (ECA), notifying the Minister that it plans to further consult on the regulations before finalising the process. The Ministry indicated that it needs to be furnished with the Authority’s position paper and conclusions as well as reports from the international benchmarking that was undertaken by the Authority before the final and informed decision is made. The Ministry also required that ICASA simplify or tabulate the regulations in relation to the original, amended and final regulations, currently being published as the process is being completed. She stated that she was mentioning all this as it had been in the media and the Portfolio Committees of Sports, Arts and Culture and Communications had concerns about it.

She said that they were coming before the Committee to allow the Authority to make their presentation, also highlighting that the regulations require the engagement of the Minister of Department of Communications and Digital Technologies (DCDT) and the Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture. It is also important that they have a working committee on creative content issues in which a team of Deputy Ministers is established to collaborate, in order to enable the Authority to receive feedback and make the enforcement of regulations easier.

She congratulated the new councilors that were appointed and then handed over to the ICASA delegation for the presentation.

ICASA Presentation

The ICASA Council, led by its Chairperson, Dr Keabetswe Modimoeng, presented on the overview around sports broadcasting, community broadcasters and gave quick updates on the spectrum licensing process.

Ms Palesa Kadi , ICASA Councillor, said that the rationale behind listing of sports relates to sports that have been identified as national sporting events, as well as a minority and developmental sports. She said that these are the three components that are needed to be of focus but to also look into the objectives in so far as how the criteria was determined and the new component of conflict resolution.

There are three components to the listing criteria so that they are organized on how they project the regulations. There is the confederations aspect of the sports which reflects the national team, the semi-final and final national knockout competitions; there is also the opening games semi-finals and confederations. She stated that they have viewed positively that both the SABC and MultiChoice gave South Africans access to watch the Rugby World Cup Final without the completion of the regulations. This means that there was a conclusion reached and fairness in terms of how they dealt with each other as very critical parties in broadcasting the sports of national interest.

The proposed sports include netball and The Association for International Sport for All (TAFISA). TAFISA includes the component of indigenous games and this is a developmental prerogative that council and the authority is looking into. The third part that was not included in the presentation is the Premier Soccer League (PSL), which was previously in the proposal and is currently out. PSL refers to the Premier League teams which are not national sports teams but are teams which are owned by individuals for commercial and other reasons. So they do not feature in the formulation of the regulations.

ICASA has consulted further with the broadcasters and the sporting bodies. She highlighted that what was key was how they had engagements with interested parties beyond sporting bodies and their interest in the matter. The consultations are ongoing and they are nearing completion. They will be soon publishing the second draft based on the reviews and when and how they have engaged interested members. She stated that collaboration is needed in every step.

Mr Willington Ngwepe, Chief Executive Officer, ICASA, said that to date there is approximately just fewer than 200 community radio stations that have been licensed across different provinces. This was prior to the imposition of the moratorium that the Authority had imposed in 2016. In 2019 they came up with a new regulatory framework for the licensing of community broadcasting services for both sound (i.e. radio) and television. The intention was to deal with all the challenges that had beset the sector. In terms of this regulatory regime, the entity had outlined the process through which they will take applicants through a pre-registration process. As they issue the pre-registration notice, they would also list all the available frequencies in the different municipalities. They would then allow applicants that have been registered as non-profit organisations, for at least two years, to apply. Any entity that wishes to apply to be a holder of a community broadcasting service license should have at least be registered for two years. The process would allow the authority to consider all the pre-registration notices and make a decision within 90 days. Where an applicant meets the requirements, then the decision would be communicated to that applicant.

ICASA published a notice for the sector to apply for pre-registration in November of the previous year. The closing date was extended until end of June. The entity had received, by the closing date, in excess of 90 applications and it was currently in the process of reviewing all of the applications that it received. He said that it will be an extensive process given the magnitude of the applications received but they hope that they will be able to make a decision within a reasonable time.

Dr Modimoeng stated that it was a common course that the Minister publishes the policy directive on the 26 July, last year. As dictated to by the ECA, the Authority then had to consider the policy directive on the licensing of spectrum. Considering the climate in which the spectrum is been licensed under, the Authority was then minded to publish what they called an Information Memorandum, so that they can take the public and all interested stakeholders into their confidence on how they envisaged to craft the licensing process. The closing date for that was 31 January, 2020.

There have been processes on the fair value of spectrum as well as a notice being published to that effect, outlining the process to be followed. He said that owing to a number of dynamics that have happened that were beyond their control, the Authority needed to focus its energies on temporarily releasing spectrum; this had direct bearing on the date that was committed which was December 2020 for the industry auction process. As a result, the Authority needs a period of about three months maximum to recoup lost ground. This would then mean that the industry auction would happen by no later than March 2021. The invitation to apply for the Wireless Open Access Network (WOAN) and the invitation for the International Mobile Telecommunication (IMT) Industry Spectrum will be out by no later than 30 September 2020. He stated that there is certainty as both Invitations-To-a-Apply (ITAs) will be out by the end of the month.

In the intervening period, he said that it was important to note that given the new normal and the dire impact of the pandemic on any industry, ICASA would like to open a last window to stakeholders   between today and 16 September, to inform the authority on what else they think is important for the authority to consider before it finalises the ITA.  It is a critical and stakeholder-centric posture because once the ITAs are out, it would be difficult for the authority to try and amend or withdraw. This is therefore the last window where representations in written form can be made to the Authority; outlining the impact of COVID-19 in a licensee or prospective licensee’s business or operations in their spectrum and management regime.

During the time that the Authority was given temporary spectrum to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, it gave some of the industry players some space to utilise the TV-wide space environment. Now a more systemic process is underway which is part of their annual performance plan and the effective date will be 03 April 2021. This means that between now and then the entity will be undertaking a number of processes, working together with other institutions such as the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). He said that it is an annual target which they can be held accountable on at the end of the financial year.

See presentation for more information

Discussion

Ms P Van Damme (DA) said that although the issue regarding filling of the councilors vacancies had been resolved, they could not ignore what had happened during the process as it resulted in a delay.

Addressing the Minister, she asked if she will apologise to the Committee. She remarked that on two occasions the Committee followed the letter and the intention of the ICASA Act regarding the appointment process. She further stated that on two occasions the Minister not only embarrassed herself but also embarrassed Parliament and the Committee. She said that if nothing else will be done, the least the Minister can do is say that she was sorry. The Minister could not claim that what she did was not wrong because she had gone back and corrected her mistake. If the Minister chose not to apologise, she should give reasons why she thought she should not apologise to the Committee.

She expressed to ICASA that saying that the delay of the release of spectrum was a result of impatience and that people must be patient; ICASA being so flippant, cannot be accepted. The process was overdue and it was unacceptable that it had once again been delayed. She asked for the proper reasons for the current delay and asked why there was such flippancy when speaking about it as it was clear what the delay had resulted in South Africa. If the process had been dealt with the entity would not be in a situation where during lockdown, matric students were given ID TVs because they were unable to use internet to study; the lack of proper internet access has been highlighted during lockdown.

Mr C Mackenzie (DA), addressing the Minister, said that there was a lot of noise in the media about her husband and his connections to the South African Post Office and its Director; as well as the Independent Online’s special investigation unit looking into her husband’s activities. He asked if the Minister could once and for all confirm that her husband does no business with any of the entities of her Department, including the South African Post Office, ICASA the WOAN or anything else.

He asked ICASA regarding how far the entity was with the rapid deployment policy directives that the Minister had sent to them. How many submissions they received from the public on the guidelines, especially about putting masts in people’s gardens and the invasion of their property? He asked for clarity with regards to the direction of the rapid deployment regulations, specifically timelines.

In terms of the spectrum auction, he said that they have seen a lot of delays in finalising the Broadcast Digital Migration (BDM) project, moving people of the analogue stations and freeing up the 700 band. What is ICASA’s opinion on the status of BDM? When do they think it will be finalised so that they will be able to offer those Spectrum in the 700 band for auction?

He asked if they have information on the actual ownership of the WOAN. Has ICASA put out any information or documentation relating to the WOAN? Have they received any applications and who was going to adjudicate it?

He asked that if the ITAs are given to the Minister once finalised in order for her to first have a look over before they are published or if they go directly to market before consulting with the Minister.

Ms N Kubheka (ANC) remarked that as the councilors have been appointed, she hopes that the Committee’s frustrations could be cleared. She asked ICASA whether there was any continuation of work while there were still open vacancies in the Council; asking if the councilors that were still in their positions continued with the job during the shortage of councilors.

Regarding the spectrum rollout, what will come by the end of November as this was the timeframe given for the temporary spectrum that they had issued? She asked if there is any space for the young players who have an interest in coming into the industry or if the focus is only on the big players in the industry.

Mr Maneli asked that as ICASA responds they should speak to the issue that relates to temporary spectrum which was allocated and had timelines. He raised the matter because in some of the round table discussions that they have had, the matter had been raised.

Responses

Minister Ndabeni-Abrahams highlighted that it was important for the Department and the Authority to provide temporary spectrum, as they had foreseen lots of traffic that was going to be experienced by citizens and everybody that uses telecommunications services. As they were moving people to lockdown, in efforts to encourage them to be productive at home, key to that was enablement of remote working which required that they help the operators to boost their capabilities. She is aware that the Authority had provided a report in terms of outlining the people that applied to spectrum and got it. The authority had called for anyone who had interest and others did not bid for it. She remarked that she raised the previous point in response to the Chairperson’s remarks that the temporary spectrum could have had the potential of disadvantaging others.

When responding to Ms Van Damme’s question, her audio was inaudible due to poor connection.

She said that she is not the source of the media statements about her husband. If the Members have any evidence on all the allegations, it is their collective responsibility to deal with corruption and as the Minister of Communication, she fully abides by that. She said that corrupt people should not be a part of the system so if the Members believe that they have evidence on the allegations, they must lay charges with the law enforcement agency. She stated that she does not have time to analyse the media articles as her energy is focused on the entities that she is responsible for. When media asks questions they respond immediately but as she is neither a journalist nor a source; she will not confirm what the media says. In the spirit that wants to promote good governance it is very important that they become transparent and take charge of all the ills in the society if they are to defeat corruption.  

She stated that all the entities, including the Post Office and Post Bank, disputed the allegations reported by the journalists. She said that she does not process procurement and register companies so she cannot say who had been given anything. Her responsibility as a shareholder is to make sure that the policies that they develop find expression and that they help the entities to deliver on the socio-economic objectives that they must focus on. Members can make follow ups with the journalists as they said they have dossiers and documentation, and utilise journalists to get the information so they can act accordingly. She stated that according to her knowledge and the information provided by all the entities, there is no business that Mr Abraham is doing in her portfolio.

With regards to BDM she said that the delegation requires another opportunity for a briefing and so it will come again before the Committee to give a briefing.

Regarding the rapid deployment, she said that she does not know how many submissions have been made as they do not come to the Minister’s desk. They get processed in the Department and the Department is still processing them as the closing date was on the previous day.

Dr Modimoeng said that Ms Van Damme had misheard him as he used the word ‘impatience’ when referring to the TV-wide spaces; he clarified that the word was not used in reference to the spectrum licensing process. With TV-wide spaces, reference was made because their annual target of finalising regulations and giving full regulatory life to the issue of TV-wide spaces has a deadline of the end of March 2021. However, there have been a lot of calls by certain players in the industry saying that they should be quick and they should find ways of speeding up the process. During the COVID-19 period, they gave certain players some space to participate in the TV-wide space arena.

He said that the WOAN will most likely be done through what they call a beauty contest. The Authority has handled beauty contests before; he referenced the free- to- air license in 2015, which he said had no successful bidder but after running the process again, they rendered a license to a successful bidder last year. If the WOAN is to do a beauty contest, the Authority as empowered by the Law to be a licensing agency, will be responsible for the WOAN process.

He said that the ITAs will not be sent to the Minister first as the Minister’s role ends with the policy. Section 3(5)(b) of the policy compels the Authority to consider the policy by the Minister and then they can issue an invitation to apply and run the process. The only intervention that the Minister can have is through the policy.

Work continued from a governance perspective and a regulatory perspective. He said that it is common course that three out of nine councilors could only do the work to the best of their abilities. ICASA, however, did not collapse and work continued during the period of shortage of councilors.

Regarding the temporary spectrum, he explained that the process was informed by regulations which were developed in relation to the pandemic. ICASA had said that industry players will return the spectrum three months after the termination of the national state of disaster or 30 November 2020, whichever comes first. The national state of disaster has been extended month to month since July and it is not known whether it will be extended again on 15 September. However, even if there is an extension or cancellation on 15 September, when they count three months it takes them to 15 December and so 30 November will be the cut-off date as it comes first. He said that they were mindful that they had intended to license spectrum through an auction in December and if there was no COVID-19 industry would not be sitting with temporary allocated spectrum. The Authority had already requested licensees to make written presentations on how they utilised the spectrum and what the challenges going forward are; they can only regulate from an informed position. After they have collated the submissions, some of which may relate to last window until 16 September, the Authority will have a proper consideration of the reality, balancing all facts. He said that there is a need for balancing as spectrum is a very valuable asset and resource that belongs to the people of South Africa and as a result the way that they license should be a measured approach.

He stated that the WOAN provides an opportunity for junior players to enter the industry.

Follow-up questions

There were follow up questions after the Chairperson and the Minister had responded to the first questions, during which there were heated comments and exchanges.

Ms Van Damme expressed her frustration regarding the Minister’s behavior and manner in which she answered the questions, stating that she finds the Minister to be “arrogant”. She said that when questions are asked, they expect the questions to be answered, as she referred to the unsatisfactory way she believes the Minister responded to her question. She said that they could no longer take the matter for disciplinary action as the Minister had corrected her mistake and, then followed by reiterating her question on whether the Minister will apologise.

While Ms Van Damme was still talking, Ms Khubheka raised a point of order and addressed Ms Van Damme. She said that the Minister had tried to respond to her question and should address the Minister in an appropriate manner and state where she found it to be a problem so that the Minister may rectify it.

The Chairperson agreed with Ms Khubheka and stated that he had given Members the opportunity to make follow up questions and as the Minster had responded to Ms Van Damme’s question, they would not be continuing with her point.

Ms Kubheka said that as the Chairperson of ICASA responds to the Committee, he should take note that the spectrum issue is a passion of the Committee’s and as such he should note that the Committee is concerned with the growth of junior players and the empowerment of women.

Mr Mackenzie congratulated Dr Modimoeng on the movement forward relating to licensing of TV-wide spaces. He asked again about the progress on the roll out of the rapid deployment and when they expect to issue the guidelines. What was the volume of responses they received from the public and have they had an opportunity to get into those submissions? He asked that they carefully consider the matter of private property which seemed to be a concern for people regarding the rapid deployment policy; he stated that the answer regarding the matter would help in reassuring members of the public.

In terms of the 700 bands of spectrum occupied by broadcasters and the DBM Project, he asked how that had impacted on their work in terms of the spectrum auction and making the spectrum bands available. When do they see them being able to auction off the bands that they have in their possession, to assign to those that need it?

Have they had any discussions with any specific stakeholders or interested players regarding the WOAN? He asked for the main people who had expressed interest in participating in the WOAN.

Mr L Molala (ANC) remarked that the Committee has been working well together across various political parties and expressed that he sometimes got embarrassed when time is spent on things that could be resolved.

He followed by asking about national sports and asked if ICASA can outline the process, as he does not see where Parliament gets to participate in the consultation process. When they last met with ICASA, there were certain issues that were raised regarding the national sports broadcasting rights. He stated that he does not get the sense on whether the issues raised were dismissed or they had been incorporated into the future. He asked if there will be another engagement at the level of Parliament before it is finalised.

Regarding the WOAN, how will the Committee be assured that new and upcoming players will be included during the WOAN beauty contest? He asked for some idea regarding the beauty contest. What will be the impact of the players that acquired temporary spectrum and the advantages they had as result of it as he said that it raises unfair competition to the newcomers?

Due to connection problems the Chairperson became unavailable, which led to Ms Khubheka being appointed as the Acting Chairperson for the remainder of the meeting. She gave over to the Minister and Chairperson of ICASA to respond to the follow up questions.

Responses

The Minister asked for clarity from Ms Van Damme regarding her question which Ms Van Damme responded hotly and said that the way in which the Minister had responded was a provocation. The Minister believes that all she is within her right to express that the entities under her portfolio are doing well if they really are.

Ms Khubheka intervened by clarifying what the Minister had said and stated that if there is a serious challenge by Ms Van Damme, they should address it after the meeting. There was no need for the Minister to respond.

Minister Ndabeni-Abrahams responded to Mr Mackenzie, stating that they cannot provide figures as the deadline was on 04 September 2020 and the teams were still processing the submissions.  Once the process is finalised, they will then be able to provide the information to Parliament. With regards to rapid deployment, she said that it was a draft policy direction, which is why they extended for consultations. She said that there is nowhere in the policy direction that property owners will be undermined; there is no intent from the ANC government for property owners to not be consulted.

After Ms Van Damme asked for her question to not be blocked and reiterated her previous question, the Minister requested for protection from the Committee. She reiterated that if the Member feels that the Minister has done something wrong, she must follow the steps to be taken when Ministers have acted incorrectly or done something wrong.

Dr Modimoeng said that the 700 band is currently occupied by broadcasters and it is one of the bands that have been earmarked for auction. The auction will proceed because the digital migration process will happen simultaneously. There will be assurances given to prospective bidders that what they acquire at an auction will be given to them. The Authority will be mindful of any implications relating to the duration of the license.

The Authority has not engaged with anyone on the basis that they are either promised or given a WOAN or anything to that effect. Clarity regarding the matter will emanate in the publication of the ITAs and the responses.

Regarding the issue about small players he said that the spirit with which they view the WOAN is to effect transformation. The Authority will ensure that from a policy perspective, government expresses its interest on how the WOAN should be an agent of transformation.

The purpose of the temporary spectrum was to ease network congestion. Most of the players applied and received spectrum as it was voluntary. He highlighted that spectrum is technology neutral so if the issuing of spectrum for the easing of network congestion and 5G services and others were launched; it was not the intent of the Authority when issuing the temporary spectrum. When the spectrum is returned, if there had not been any amendments to regulations or any other changes, then those that had received temporary spectrum would have to return it. There has not been any amendment that is aimed at extending the validity period of the regulations.

Mr Ngwepe said that the rapid deployment consultation process is still at the first stage which entails the Minister publishing the draft policy in terms of Section 3(5)(B) of the ECA. The second stage entails the Minister publishing the final policy direction, directed at ICASA in terms of Section 3(5)(C). ICASA will then consider the policy and, upon consideration of the policy, they will then embark on a regulation-making process. At the current stage, the comments and the representations on the draft policy are sent to the Department and not to ICASA.

Ms Kadi addressed the issue of the dispute resolution mechanism that is in place; how the committee alluded to the fact that the fine was to hefty and how the other comments were dealt with in context of the presentation. She confirmed that there is going to be a second round of discussions through submissions so that the Authority is in a position to consider many other issues that are a determining factor in the sporting sector. This also came from previous comments about the PSL not being in the second draft. ICASA are going to be informed of public inputs which means they will not go back to Parliament to take further input, which is a legal requirement of the ICASA Act, Section 4(5). When they are done they may in consultation with the Minister, engage on the final list, which is the list that broadcasters and required parties need to be informed of. At a particular point when ICASA issues a second call, further considerations will be taken.

Ms Khubheka was also cut off due to the connection. The secretary was able to bring in Mr Maneli through the phone to chair the rest of the meeting. Mr Maneli made final remarks in relation to the presentation by ICASA and then thanked the Minister and the Council for the presentation. He then handed over to the MDDA for their presentation.

MDDA Presentation: Funding Scheme & Covid-19 Support to Community Media Sector

The CEO, Ms Zukiswa Potye, said that in terms of the communication received from the National Treasury on compulsory budget fee cuts over the next medium-term strategic framework; it is going to put a strain on the print sector in terms of the funding for the MDDA. The agency is going to see what can be done as the print sector was getting money from the fiscus but due to the budget cuts the money will be lost.

She acknowledged that ICASA has sent them the ITA for the possibility of licensing more community televisions and more community radio stations. The MDDA is planning on expanding the footprint for the community television in particular. As far as the community broadcasters or radio stations are concerned, the MDDA will be informed by the district model which will focus their work in the future.

In terms of Covid-19, the MDDA launched a R20 million emergency relief fund on the 30th March following the President’s announcement of the national pandemic and lockdown. The Agency first disbursed the first R10 million in April, to 115 qualifying broadcasters and 116 qualifying print projects. There was a small criterion that the beneficiaries had to meet as she said that the MDDA takes pride in the fact that they must ensure that there is proper governance and compliance in terms of the use of funds disbursed to the sector.

The total package given to each of the supported projects was R45 000 which was mainly for content generation, telephones and data, refuelling for the car hires and print, as well as distribution. She indicated that the Emergency Relief Fund is not limited to the current beneficiaries of the MDDA but is open to everyone in the community media sector. On the May 25, 2020, through a well-publicised marketing strategy, the Agency launched the second phase with another R10 million. R50 000 was given to the community broadcasters and R20 000 was given to the community print. Due to the budget constraint, the MDDA has to find other strategies to support the small commercial media as opposed to them getting the same funding as the community media, especially as the Agency is no longer getting support from the major media houses since 2014. The second phase of the relief was focused on the operational costs and is currently under disbursement.  She said that the phase is taking a little longer due to the application process and the stringent criteria in which people needed to demonstrate that they were impacted in terms of revenue generation by the pandemic. The Agency has received 115 applications from print and 192 from broadcast. They have paid R5 million to 88 print projects and 84 broadcasters.

The Agency made a call in March and disbursed about R11.8 million to SENTECH on qualifying projects. They had R2 million set aside for new connections that were not necessarily new projects but projects that were already invested into, but off air as SENTECH was unable to connect them without paying upfront. In March the board approved R18 million; R6.6 million is tied to the contracts of the projects that were approved for normal grants on the 28th of March during the current financial year.

With regards to the issue of signal distribution, she stated that through sustainability research the Agency will try to find possibilities of making some of the projects to start providing. When the Agency advertises for projects to apply in the current financial year, they will issue another application for projects that need assistance with signal distribution. They have set aside about R7million for signal distribution and they will continue to assist so that they do not put the strain on SENTECH until they come up with sustainable strategies and alternatives on signal distribution.

In order to source funds to further assist the sector, the MDDA has written to some organisations such as Standard Bank, Google and Facebook. However, the Agency has not been fortunate in getting funding as most organisations have been constrained; they have since appealed to MultiChoice. The MDDA is not only looking for more money to disburse for the current year but it was also going to consult the board to disburse more money as emergency relief at the end of the year, looking to assist the sector in 2021 due to the lasting impact of the pandemic.

Sector challenges were converted as research themes for commissions and following that, the Agency is going to have the research focusing on the results of the commissions.

She said that she is encouraged as the Minister had expressed willingness to assist the MDDA and be part of the fundraising process.

As plans for the way forward, they are focusing on audience measurement which is also going to be part of the research. She said that the broadcast research council had invited National Community Radio Forum (NCRF), the South African Community Radio Organisation and the MDDA to sit  on one of the committees that are improving the audience research in as far as BRC is concerned.

She said that they are hoping that by the time they review the MDDA in twenty years’ time they should have piloted some of the elements of the sustainability model.

See presentation for more information

Discussion

Mr Mackenzie asked for an indication on any engagements or programmes that they currently have with NEMISA. What is the level of engagements the Agency is having with NEMISA and how have they rolled out trainings through their collaborations? What was MultiChoice bringing to the MDDA and the community broadcasting sector generally?

Lastly, in terms of digitisation of press content, he stated that once content was digitised it was not difficult to upload it to a platform like PressReader  where it would be accessible to everyone; he asked if they were aware of that and if so, what they were doing in that regard.

Ms Van Damme expressed that she was encouraged by the work done by the MDDA. Referencing previous oversight visits, she said that they had found that there was no paper trail in terms of the money that is given. Following the visits, the Members had requested that an audit be conducted of all the media that money had been given to so that there is a paper trail. She then asked if there was a measure that had been put in place for a paper trail so that the money can be audited and to make sure that it was used for its given purpose. Secondly, what steps were put in place so that the media is able to sustain itself beyond the money that they were given?

Mr Maneli asked with regards to the finances for community radio stations. He asked what plan is in place and how will it be communicated as part of the process of application. How will the community media benefit from the MDDA’s collaboration with other organisations such as Facebook and Google?

Responses

Ms Potye addressed the issue of radio stations closing down, saying that it was not only due to finances but mostly because of noncompliance with the broadcasters’ licenses which would lead to loss of their licenses. She said that the district model will help streamline the work of the MDDA.

In order to improve the process of funding and of getting spread in terms of funding, the board approved the first grant funding policy of the MDDA. The board also approved for the MDDA to eliminate a backlog that was found to be unable to go through. They then put in place a new process informed not only by the Act and the regulation; they also had a process that is supported by an internal policy. Referencing the slide on improved application process, she said that the process enables them to see the daily applications and the backlog.

In terms of quantifying the funding, the Agency had presentations that indicated that they have funded the sector by at least R0.5 billion, in the 15/16 years, excluding the current year. Therefore, the MDDA is able to quantify year-on-year where it has been and how much it has funded, and to see who has defaulted. In terms of the process, the Agency also has annual calls for applications. They will be making calls in September for normal grants and SENTECH.

Regarding their relationship with SENTECH, she said that they have a good relationship. They have met overtime in order sort out the debt and they have come to the conclusion that the debt belongs to the community broadcasters sector. In the past, before the Department of Communications was split, there was a line item where money was appropriated by government for signal distribution or for the support of the community broadcasters. However, when the line item was no longer there, they then struggled with the signal distribution.

On how they plan to deal with the signal distribution in as far as sustainability is concerned, she said that they are all in agreement that SENTECH is not sustainable in as far as community media is concerned. This motivated the stance they took at the consultative conference in order to look at the challenges of the sector and create long-lasting sustainability strategies. In the research that they plan to do, they would like to be able to categorise the sector to indicate the profiles of the different businesses. In the strategy they are also trying to make custom-make assistance to the sector according to the categories’ needs.

Addressing Mr Mackenzie’s question she said that they have met with NEMISA twice and will be meeting with them in the coming week. Their initial meeting was in relation to the Competition Commission bursaries and they wanted NEMISA to have an intake that the MDDA could pay bursaries for. However, they were unable to do so. So their next meeting will be about determining the kind of partnership and collaboration they can have with NEMISA.

She remarked that MultiChoice is the MDDA’s largest funder and that a contract is in the pipeline after the previous contract expired in 2018. In 2019, MultiChoice committed to giving them R40 million per annum and have, followed this year, by stating that they will increase it to R46 million in the current financial year. This further opened the door for them to motivate for more money and as such they have written to them expressing that they believe that the pandemic will have lasting effects; as well as looking to see if MultiChoice could assist with signal transmission costs. She said that without MultiChoice they would not be where they are.

She said that the Agency on early stages with regards to digitising the sector, including the app that they would like to develop.

In reference to Ms Van Damme’s question, she said that when they fund a project, they can account for the projects they have funded and tell them exactly how the funds have been used. She explained that if the board approves a grant, the applicant goes through a stringent process before approval and after being approved the MDDA drafts a Grantee Aid Agreement. Following that, the Agency will go to the grant beneficiary to go through the Grantee Aid Agreement, looking at what it entails. If the beneficiary of the grant wants to deviate from the approved allocation of the funds, they  have to notify the board. She stated there is no time that they are not aware of what the projects are doing with the money as they interact with them on a daily basis especially if they want to use the money for something else. The money is given to the beneficiaries in different tranches. After every tranche the beneficiary has to provide reports and evidence showing how the money was utilised.

She highlighted that in situations that a project is unable to report on the use of funds, the Act gives powers to the board to write to that project to rectify and if they are unable to rectify, they withdraw their support.

The Chairperson concluded the MDDA segment of the meeting and thanked the MDDA board members for the presentation. He then moved on to the next agenda item.

Consideration and adoption of report

The Chairperson suggested that they allow Members to go through the report as they had done in the past. It will be highlighted that Mr Mackenzie made the submission. He suggested that they circulate the reports to the Members and that the reports, together with the outstanding minutes, are taken to the first meeting when they get back. He stated that what was important was not just the adoption of the reports as a formality but that Committee are binding themselves to the contents of the report and they still need to make follow-ups on the recommendations that they would have made.

Mr Mackenzie said that he also picked up the point about the funding saying that as he understood it; the R4 billion was going to come from the medium-term expenditure framework and the R2 billion was going to come from the Covid Relief Fund. He said that it is an issue that needs clarity. There were some other points from the document that he needed clarity about but he will capture them and send them to the Secretariat for correction. He said that he was happy to follow the guidance of the Chairperson.

Mr Molala shared the same sentiments regarding the funding and he also agreed to follow Mr Maneli’s guidance.

Following the feedback from the Members, Mr Maneli said that they will submit to the Secretariat, as they agreed. In their first meeting, when they also adopt the programme for the term, they will start with that and the minutes.

He thanked the Members for their contributions and made final remarks.

The meeting was adjourned.

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