MDDA Board: interviews

Meeting report

The Chairperson informed each candidate that the Subcommittee was convened according to the National Assembly Rules and its purpose was to fill the vacancy on the Media Development and Diversity Agency (MDDA) Board. He explained the five-minute rule for the candidate to make an introduction. The introduction should include the candidate’s work experience, academic achievements and why the candidate should be considered for the board. Thereafter Members would asked questions. For each question, the candidate would be given five minutes to respond. This five-minute period included candidate’s response and member’s question. He then introduced members of the Subcommittee to the candidate.

Refer to the audio for the responses to the questions.

Interview: Mr Louis Seeco
Ms P Faku (ANC) said that one of the key performance indicators (KPIs) MDDA was struggling to achieve was its research target. It has not achieved this in the past. MDDA had budget constraints and she asked the candidate to provide some solutions on what can be done to ensure that research target is met.

Ms Faku said that although community radio stations are funded through MDDA, it was known that the funding was insufficient and the method was not sustainable. She asked the candidate what other mechanisms MDDA could use for  sustainability.

Ms Faku asked about transformation in the community media space. She wanted the candidate to provide solutions to address access to community radio stations and challenges such as language barriers.

Mr Z Mbhele (DA) commented that the candidate’s response to Ms Faku ’s question resonated with his own vision for MDDA. He emphasised the importance of ensuring MDDA’s sustainability going into the future and encouraged him to further unpack and expand on his ideas on that.

He asked the candidate to elaborate on what he called strategic gap identification for MDDA. What would the candidate say was a key shortfall in MDDA’s operations from a governance outlook using a high-level strategic lens?

Mr Mbhele asked what unique value the candidate would bring to the MDDA board in skills, experience and networks to ensure sustainability of MDDA into the future. What could he offer in terms of resource mobilisation and building strategic partnerships for MDDA?

Mr T Gumbu (ANC) asked him to explain what the role of MDDA would be in promoting community media in a digital environment.

Mr Gumbu asked about the role of the MDDA in corporate governance.

Ms N Khubheka (ANC) stated that it was difficult for MDDA to attract investment. Although it had achieved a clean audit for the past three years, its purpose should be more than achieving a clean audit but rather to benefit communities at the end of the day. Given its limited resources, she asked if the MDDA policy and legislation are still relevant today.

Ms Khubheka asked him if it would be wise to increase the MDDA budget or if it should be thinking of other mechanisms to increase revenue.

The Chairperson asked the candidate to provide an assessment of the sustainability of the MDDA funding model. In answering the question, the candidate should draw on his own work and travel experience in the context of his objection to impose more government legislation on MDDA but rather getting more industries on board to assist the MDDA.

Prof Siyasanga Tyali
Ms Faku remarked on the candidate’s combined experience in research based on his CV. The predicament MDDA found itself in was that business was not willing to advertise on community media. This advertising reluctance has led to most community radio stations being financially unsustainable. As the media environment is competitive, community media is particularly vulnerable. She asked if government should allocate more resources to the MDDA or are there other options. Considering the fiscal constraints of National Treasury and the challenge of MDDA’s research capacity, she thus asked if he had connections in higher learning institutions to assist with this.

Mr Mbhele asked the candidate to elaborate on what he called strategic gap identification for MDDA. What would he say was a key shortfall in MDDA operations from a governance outlook using a high-level strategic lens? What would he change, if appointed, and why?

Mr Mbhele asked for the candidate's ideas and insights which could contribute to enrich the research work of MDDA in order to strengthen its sustainability and make it a hub for community media development.

Mr Gumbu asked what skills he would bring to the MDDA  board if appointed.

Mr Gumbu asked how he planned to guide MDDA in the fight against hate speech and fake news.

Ms Khubheka asked if he believed community media could compete with commercial or public broadcasters. If not, she asked to provide a practical solution to that.

Ms Khubheka asked if he believed the MDDA policy, regulations and legislation were still relevant.

Ms Khubheka raised concern at the many directorships the candidate held at various organisations in his CV and asked if he would be able to adequately commit himself to the MDDA board if appointed.

Ms Khubheka commented on the significant burden COVID-19 has caused to the economy and people's livelihoods. She asked what MDDA could do more effectively and proactively to respond to this crisis.

The Chairperson asked about the candidate's research in community media. A lot of community ratio stations that have failed are in rural areas. What would he recommend as a long-term sustainable funding model for MDDA?

Mr Ryland Fisher
Ms Faku commented on the grassroot approach the candidate had highlighted in his CV. Community radio plays a vital role in educating children in their indigenous language and informing them of what the government is doing in the absence of libraries and other communication media in rural areas. Given the candidate’s own experience of developing a community radio station, what should be done to ensure that young children have access to such vital information through community media?

Ms Faku stated that although government is assisting community radio stations through the MDDA, the majority of radio stations are not sustainable. What were the factors that contributed to the failure of community radio stations?

Ms Faku asked for his opinion on the MDDA funding model and if it should rely on government resources or other avenues of income.

Mr Mbhele noted the candidate’s vast journalistic and editorial experience from his CV. He asked how that experience would be beneficial to MDDA at a governance and board level.

Commenting on the candidate’s experience in the community media space, Mr Mbhele asked what lessons he would share about promoting community media development.

Mr Gumbu noted the candidate’s experience in having been a political activist and in the media space for a very long time. He asked to demonstrate his understanding of media freedom in South Africa.

Mr Gumbu asked what the role of MDDA should be in promoting community media in a digital environment.

Ms Khubheka stated that although MDDA has obtained a clean audit for the past three years, it is experiencing a challenge in meeting its research target. How could the candidate assist MDDA to achieve the research target, if appointed?

Ms Khubheka asked him to provide strategies to improve the MDDA funding model to obtain more revenue for community media. Although it gets very limited funding from government, it has a huge responsibility to provide funding to community radio stations. How would he propose solving this predicament so the MDDA can have a bigger impact in the community media space.

Ms Khubheka asked about strategies to tackle fake news.

The Chairperson asked if it was beneficial for community media and commercial media to compete against each other, whether it would be for the sustainability or undermining of community media.

Ms Amantle Mokubung
Ms Faku remarked that it was always inspiring to see marginalised people such as youth, women and the previously disadvantaged participating and showing interest in the community media space. Community radio stations should be youth-oriented, women-oriented and child-oriented. She asked what the role of MDDA should be in promoting community media in a digital environment.

Ms Faku asked how the programming of community media could be improved in order to correspond to the objective of media diversity.

Ms Faku asked if she believed community media should be competing with commercial  or public broadcasters. If not, she asked the candidate to provide a practical solution to that.

Mr Mbhele asked about the key gaps or shortcomings in the community media landscape.

Mr Mbhele asked if appointed to the board, what she would change at MDDA in terms of its operation. He asked for some insights and ideas to strengthen the community media sector.

Mr Gumbu asked what the role of the MDDA would be in corporate governance.

Mr Gumbu asked how MDDA responded to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ms Khubheka described MDDA as limping on the research side. Given that the candidate had emphasised content development in her introduction, what would she propose to improve MDDA’s research aspect.

Ms Khubheka asked for an assessment of MDDA policy, regulations and legislation and if they still remained relevant and could continue to be used going forward.

Ms Khubheka expressed her delight at hearing the candidate shared her view that the presence of young people on the board should be encouraged.

Ms Khubheka asked how she planned to guide MDDA in the fight against fake news, especially in rural areas since residents there are the most affected as they have limited means for obtaining information.

The Chairperson attributed the collapse of some entities to the failure in distinguishing between the functions of management and those of the board which required corporate governance knowledge. He asked the candidate to clearly distinguish the two roles for the smooth running of an entity.

Mr Masimene Lesiba
Ms Faku asked about the candidate's corporate governance experience and to demonstrate his understanding of the functions of the board and the functions of the management of an entity.

Ms Faku asked, if appointed, what he would do differently to ensure the sustainability of community radio stations.

As a follow-up, Ms Faku asked how the candidate planned to increase MDDA’s revenue given its current challenge to generate additional revenue.

Mr Mbhele asked how his work experience in the construction, corporate finance and education sectors could help him relate to the community media sector. He asked him to elaborate on his unique value add to the MDDA board given his work experience, skills and networks.

Mr Mbhele asked for his insights and ideas on building collaboration and partnerships for emerging media players based on his experience in the corporate sector.

Mr Gumbu asked in which areas MDDA needed transformation as well as how they would be transformed.

Mr Gumbu asked what the role of MDDA should be in promoting community media in a digital environment.

Ms Khubheka asked if he believed that community media should be competing with commercial or public broadcasters.

Ms Khubheka asked what his strategies would be to help improve the MDDA funding model in order for it to generate more revenue for community radio stations.

The Chairperson asked what the role of the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) should be to maximise and fulfil the MDDA mandate and to assist people who want to open community radio stations.

In his closing remarks, the Chairperson reminded Members of the change to the Parliament programme as a result of the Constitutional Court’s ruling on local elections. Therefore, the scheduled programme for ICASA would not take place. The Subcommittee should provide its progress reports on the SABC and MDDA board interviews. He would inform the Subcommittee if it would be given permission to conclude the work it had already done.

The meeting was adjourned.