SABC Progress Report: briefing

Meeting report

COMMUNICATIONS PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE
3 June 2003
SABC PROGRESS REPORT: BRIEFING
 

SABC Presentation to the Portfolio Committee
SABC Draft Editorial Policies

SUMMARY
The SABC Board hopes that its editorial policies would be finalised by the end of 2003. A date for the corporatisation of the organisation has been set for 1 October 2003. On universal access and delivery to the South Africa public, radio delivery was at 80% and delivery in television stood at 90%. Content of non-English programming has and will continue to increase. There has been a growth in payment of TV licences but advertising on television has not grown as much as desired.

The SABC was questioned about the following:
- the fact that its Board CEO was also its editor-in-chief
- the financing for its new channels for regional services
- the success of the "It’s the right thing to do" licence fees campaign
- the use of captioning in preference to signing for the deaf

MINUTES
As a result of the resignation of the Committee’s Chairperson, Mr N. Kekana, the Committee chose Ms N. Mtsweni as its Acting Chairperson, for the purposes of the briefing.

Ms Mtsweni introduced the SABC team, asking them to respond to complaints noted in a previous meeting, that there was a lack in SABC programming in local content, an under-representation of indigenous languages, and too much violence depicted against women and children. The Committee needed to ascertain if the SABC was fulfilling its role as public broadcaster, to inform, educate, and entertain.

She remarked that since the last meeting, visible changes had been observed in the rescheduling of programmes, especially English news slots to more appropriate times. There were more African language programmes shown on TV2. There was a greater proportion of local and African music being shown. The organisation’s Draft Editorial Policy had been made available in different languages.

The Committee was pleased with the changes which were taking place at the SABC, and was expectant to hear of time frames for the implementation of its editorial policies. The Committee wanted to see the emergence of a public-funded model broadcaster.

SABC Board
Mr Vincent Maphai, as Chairperson of the SABC Board, headed the SABC’s presentation to the Committee, wherein he paid tribute to the outgoing Chairperson, with well-wishes to whomever would succeed him.

He stated that the Board wanted to report on issues raised at the last meeting, in order to demonstrate progress made, and areas in which the Board was still battling. He informed the Committee of his conviction that the SABC was in a state of moving forward, notwithstanding the challenges faced in transformation.

The Board had consolided management and were continuing to recruit staff.

In the past twelve to eighteen months, the Board had focused on programme content. An indicator of the organisation’s progress has been the over 200 national and international awards that it has received in the past two years.

A key problem which had been identified, and which the Board is now better able to manage, is a lack of finance. Now for the first time, they know what to request in terms of resources.

The organisation has drawn up an editorial staff policy document, to guide transformation in the industry. The South African public has responded very generously to the draft editorial policies with insights and views, and the Board was hopeful of Parliament’s support as well.

The policies would serve as a background to editorial staff, and to the public.

On 25 April, the SABC published a number of draft editorial policies for public comment, focusing on: broadcasting mandate, news, programming, language issues, universal service and access, local content, religion, and education. The SABC’s editorial policies cover not only the news, but all aspects of programming.

A key challenge is to make the draft policies widely accessible and easily understood in six official languages. To date, there’s been a good response, with over 300 written responses thus far received. The closing date for the receipt of written responses is 13 June 2003. The Board hopes that the policies would be finalised by the end of 2003.

Introduction by Chief Executive Officer on Operational Elements & Strategies
Mr Peter Matlare (CEO) stated that the SABC was attempting to make a successful transition to a stable public broadcaster. He identified management (especially including middle and junior management) as a major challenge in determining the way forward. The draft policies would give the context in which this would happen.

Mr Matlare said that approximately R1billion would have to be spent to allow the broadcaster to continue to deliver to the South African citizenry.

A date for the corporatisation of the organisation has been set for 1 October 2003, when the SABC will become SABC Ltd. On universal access and delivery to the South Africa public, he reported that total delivery in radio stood at 80%, while delivery in television stood at 90%.

The delivery service was largely impact by the types of transmitters that were available in the various areas of the country’s topography.

Total revenues grew by about 13%, while costs grew by 6%. Advertising revenue showed a growth of only 7%. To increase advertising revenues, the organisation has to find new ways of attracting sponsorships. Revenues deriving from licences grew by 7%.

The Committee heard that ICASA had put some demands on the SABC with regard to local content and language compliance, to which they have been responding. By August 2003, they should have fully complied. However changes are difficult to implement. For example, moving a news slot by one hour - which they had done - usually upsets viewer patterns.

Mentioning some highlights, Mr Matlare stated that the SABC Board had worked with Parliament in the passing of the Amendment Bill, developed a Content Hub strategy, focused on industry development (African Writers’ Lab for Radio and TV, and an SABC Internship Programme), launched news bulletins in SiSwati and Ndebele, introduced programmes focusing on heritage and culture (Sarah Baartman), and focused on news and current affairs relating to the African continent (WSSD), amongst other things.

Mr Matlare mentioned the following specific delivery areas that the SABC would now focus on: submission of licence applications for regional TV services, developing a strategy for Channel Africa, preparations for 2004 elections coverage, resolve issues relating to the closing down of the Bop television station.

News
Mr T. Mazwai (News Sub-Committee Chairperson) stated that the SABC would play a critical role in keeping the nation informed and in encouraging debate. The Board was currently working on content strategy.

Various current affairs were being introduced on radio and TV. There would be a special focus on SMMEs, which was envisaged to assist more economic growth in the country.

News bulletins in the different languages have been rescheduled, in order to ensure greater equity.

News and current affairs programmes regularly visit remote villages in rural areas for special community broadcasts. Examples of these include Matatiele in the Eastern Cape, where the programme "Lesedi" focused on poor service delivery in the province; and Driekoppies, where the programme "Ligwalagwala looked at the manner in which the local community fights crime. These programmes were as a result of the Board’s desire to ensure that news is integrated into community life.

Additionally, news and current affairs programmes have covered events of both national and international significance: the Walter Sisulu funeral, the signing of the Congo Peace Accords, the war on Iraq (which was done from a South African perspective), and the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD).

Mr Mazwai mentioned that SABC News had received a number of awards and accolades for news coverage.

Speaking on the way forward, Mr Mazwai as from July 2003, there would be news broadcasts in Tshivenda and xiTsonga.

Mr Mazwai stated that press freedom, the independence and role of the media has always been expressed in Western terms. It now needs to be expressed in African terms, and to this end, there would be a major conference called "Media and Society" hosted later this year, in which religious leaders, traditional leaders, political parties, government, cultural organisations, women’s bodies youth organisations, and various other stakeholders in South African society will express their views.

Programming
Mr Ashwin Trikamjee (Chair: Programming) informed the Committee that the SABC Board had taken the Committee’s issues very seriously. Old procedures were reviewed, and new ones put in place to address those issues, having first consulted with the various stakeholders.

The language issue was being dealt with "in the best possible manner". While the content of non-English programming has increased. The Committee was informed that this was an ongoing process. He said that the SABC has recognised that they need to explore the full broadcasting potential of radio services.

The SABC has implemented repositioning of their TV channels. As regards local content, the Board was convinced that the organisation’s delivery had improved. Lots of energy had been devoted to the Content Hub, so that there will be a very effective contents change. The organisation was performing at almost twice the quota that had been prescribed.

Human Resources
Prof. Derrick Swartz (Chair: Human Resources) stated that the SABC places a high premium on the development of human capital as the epicentre of its operations. Human resources are central as instruments to achieving its objectives. This last year has seen a focus on performance and transition in management styles, in the development of operating principles, and the overhauling of the performance management system. They are eager to attract the best workers, nurture them, and retain their services, through rewarding excellent service, remunerating competitively, and changing the culture within the organisation.

The organisation wants to change the idea that the SABC is Johannesburg-based. It wishes to project the image of being much more representative of the entire country.

Finance
Mr Kennedy Memani (Chair: Finance and Audit Committee), stated that the SABC was in a sound state financially, while acknowledging that they continued to have declining revenues. There was a continuing debate as to whether the SABC would continue to operate as it is, or whether it would be capitalised. It was Mr Memani’s hope that the SABC would become a corporate entity within the year, hopefully by the October deadline.

On the issue of licences, there was a need to consider an increase in licence fees, in order to deliver to the public.

On financial controls and management within the SABC, there is room for improvement. Slides were shown that indicate growth in payment of TV licences over the years. The overall environment for advertising on television has not grown as much as desired, advertising being one of the main sources of revenue. Such a situation might necessitate a need to focus on alternative revenue sources, such as an increase in licence fees.

Discussion
The Chairperson thanked the presentation team for their joint submission. Concerning the draft policies, he questioned whether 250 public written response on the editorial policies was sufficient input - the closing date being so close at hand.

Mr Maphai responded that the Board plans to hold meetings in all the provinces on editorial policies, where people will be able to ask and answer any questions in their own language.

Ms D. Smuts stated that the idea of the CEO being editor-in-chief of the organisation had caused some shock, since it was not ethically correct. She said the CEO had also postulated the idea, linking news with national values and objectives, which was tantamount to speaking of tailoring the news to government goals. She reiterated that having a member of the Board involved in news programming, presented a problem. Editorial independence should reside within the editorial staff. The journalistic function should be separate from management. On Mr Mazwai’s call for an understanding of the media function from an African perspective, she stated that that had already been determined, as it was "cast in stone", and did not need to be re-determined.

Ms S. Vos (IFP) stated that her party was similarly concerned with the policies and implications of upward referral. She asked to be given an idea of the projected costs for implementing the new television channels.

Mr V. Gore (DA) asked from where financing for the new channels would come. Referring to Mr Memani’s statement about the possible increase in licence fees, he asked how much success had been achieved through the campaign to motivate more people to pay their licence fees.

With regard to news editorial policy, he said that the Board’s starting point was accountability. The SABC Board holds in trust a very powerful role in terms of South African society, and is held accountable for all its decisions and operations. The measures that have been put in place, were carefully thought through, and are in no way uncommon.

Mr Matlare stated that both the Board and Parliament were involved in determining editorial function. Broadcasting procedures around the world were studied. These studies revealed that the BBC’s Director-General was appointed by Government as the editor-in-chief. Editorial function covers all things that affect the public broadcaster, therefore all these issues were seen to be integral to the British society. At ABC in Canada, there is similarly a mechanism of upward referral. Across all the business platforms of the public broadcaster, there are very practical reasons why the Board CEO should be editor-in-chief. Journalists often require the guidance of people in upper managerial positions.

Both at CNN and at ABC, there is a process, both formal and informal, of upward referral. As Chief Executive of all other business, why should the CEO be excluded from editorial matters?

Mr Mazwai stated that editorial integrity rests with the Board in terms of the Broadcasting Act. He stated that as someone who had been a journalist for 35 years, he had found objectivity to be elusive, because news is an elusive dynamic. Speaking on his own behalf, he stated that every truth has its own context.

He added that he was concerned at Ms Smuts’ assertion that the definition of media function had already been "cast in stone". He said that nothing is cast in stone. On the need for the media conference, Mr Mazwai stated that South Africa had come from a divided past, and its peoples have always looked at news differently. The media has a role to play in finding how the country’s common objectives would be met. He felt there was nothing wrong with people getting together to discuss their various perspectives on institutions within society. He wanted to reject what a small amount of people decided as right and wrong, and wanted to allow the people of South Africa to decide.

Prof. Swartz said that, in his view, upward referral referred to conditions of exceptionality, so that even should a matter be reported upward for oversight, the decision would still be made in consultation. The provision states that, "as a general rule, when they should refer it". He called attention to the fact that the provision was not compelling, since it states, "should", and not, "must". Because one could not legislate conditions of exceptionality, one’s mind should be applied in each case.

To answer Ms Vos’ question on costs around implementing the new regional services, he said that the SABC had embarked on a study to determine these costs in terms of human resources, finances, and so forth. The study would investigate a multiplicity of things, such as the possibility of the use of either sub-titles or digital sound, for how long these facilities would run, what sort of impact these would have on existing audiences, whether it would produce a split in audience numbers, and whether advertising would be affected. There were operational elements which made it hard to supply definite figures.

Mr Sollie Mokwetle stated that the SABC must find ways to minimise the cost of content. The Board had found that previously, there had been many weaknesses in the broadcaster’s functioning, to deliver content. Those people in the frontline administering huge amounts of funds did not necessarily possess the required skills. Since the change in management style, the broadcaster’s ability to deliver on programme content is increasing.

Another objective is to ensure the upgrading of people skills. It had been found that more than 70% of the time of the commissioning editor was spent on administration, rather than on programming content. Henceforth, there would be a separation of these roles into administration and content, in order to help achieve efficiency and effectiveness.

In response to Mr Gore’s questions, Mr Mokwetle stated that the R1 billion previously mentioned was based on the SABC not having sufficiently invested in the last decade, in terms of the digital platform. In relation to the success of the "It’s the right thing to do" licence fees campaign, that brought in about R10 million in revenue. However, there is still much more that can be done in terms of penalising people for non-payment, to the extent that people can now be jailed.

Mr Robin Nicholson stated that the growth in licence payments in the last year, had come from 2.5 million households. Very few of that came from people who were coming into compliance with licence fee payments.

Mr R. Pieterse (ANC) agreed that there were concerns regarding the SABC. However, he said, ultimately, it was everybody’s SABC. He suggested that the lack of response from the public to the editorial draft policies could simply be because people have very few problems with it, and are in agreement. It could mean that people are receiving exactly what they want. However, they could find a greater response coming before the closing date of the 13 June.

On editorial independence, he wanted to know from whom this independence should be. He added that accountability starts from the top, and goes all the way down. He did not see it as a matter of interference, but should one need to interfere in order to "strengthen the ship", then one must interfere. Lastly, he asked if people at the BOP TV station would lose their jobs as a result of the station’s closing, or if they would be integrated into the SABC.

Ms R. Morutoa (ANC) asked how much more educational programmes were being planned for children, and what the local content quotas were, for the different sectors.

Ms W. Newhoudt-Druchen (ANC) asked what mechanism was used to inform the deaf and hard of hearing of the contents of the editorial draft policy document. In addition, she wanted to know what the SABC was doing for those people who were deaf and hard of hearing. She informed the Board that many deaf people preferred to see more captioning, rather than signing, on television. Broadcasting overseas makes extensive use of captioning, since they have the technology available for it. What was being done to benefit from such technology in South Africa? With regard to the coming elections in 2004, she wanted to know if measures were being put in place to direct campaigning programmes at the deaf and hard of hearing members of society.

Ms A van Wyk (NNP), on perceptions that SABC operations are centralised around Gauteng, commented that coastal and rural artists, musicians, and performers in general, have no financial security. They are often forced to move to commercial centres in order to get work. Much of the programming on TV has a distinctly Gauteng atmosphere, and although the programmes are very successful, they are not representative of the rest of the country.

She stated that British elections are designed for TV. She suggested that the SABC consider broadcasting an interface amongst the various competing political parties. She further wanted to know how much competition actually was presented by DSTV and KYKNET, adding that many Afrikaans-speaking viewers were signing up with KYKNET.

On promoting the SABC and South Africa as a whole, Mr Maziya (ANC) stated that SABC should be constantly promoting South Africa. The SABC should represent positivity, rather than negativity in their work.

The response was that the SABC has a mandate to inform the public on what is happening, even when those things are unpleasant. The Board was "trying very hard" in its attempts to promote the country abroad. The Committee was reminded of the international accolades received by the SABC for its coverage the previous year.

Mr Maphai did point out that the SABC had been experiencing tumultuous times, and had been in the position where they had been compelled to "go back to the drawing board", to change the face of the channels.

On the closing down of BOP TV, Mr Matlare said this would incur costs. About 181 people would be put out of work. He did not believe the majority would be absorbed into the SABC. There would be some workers required to oversee the facilities for the new services. However, these were maintenance work requirements, and not operational. He did not foresee the 181 people laid off at BOP TV being employed there – at least, not until that facility becomes operational.

Mr Matlare said that there would be an increase in educational programmes on SABC 1 and 2 for early learning purposes, and for adult education. By August, educational programming will comprise 55% of broadcast time on SABC 1 and 2, and 35% on SABC 3.

On policy formulation for deaf and hard of hearing citizens, Mr Matlare said that they consult with all role players, such as DEAFSA, schools, and others, in order to make television benefits more accessible to all. However, he said that in past years, when the SABC was downsizing, they had removed the captioning facilities.

It was important to ensure accessibility to electoral campaigning to deaf and hard of hearing citizens in the 2004 elections. Mr Matlare promised this would be provided through signage. The details of this plan would be made available to the Committee.

The SABC was intent on ensuring that all public address events which are broadcast, cater for the deaf and hard of hearing community. He committed the SABC Board to reporting on progress in this area each year, so that progress can be duly monitored.

Speaking on the perceptions that Gauteng was the base for the SABC, Mr Matlare said that the two regional channels would attempt to address this issue. The problem, he added, was not peculiar to the SABC, but occurs around the world. Production usually grows around the broadcast location. He said that the programme, "Morning Live", was also attempting to address the problem, by bringing perspectives from around the country.

Speaking again on the elections, he said that the SABC was working closely with the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC). He stressed that even-handedness must be ensured in covering the electioneering efforts of the various political parties, in compliance with the Broadcasting Act.

On competition from other broadcasters, Mr Matlare said that all broadcast institutions see each other as competition. When they talk of competition, it’s not just in terms of audience, but also in terms of the acquisition of talents, securing of rights to air events, and so forth. He added that the SABC had lost some of their staff to DSTV, while at the same time, some of their staff had come from DSTV.

Speaking on Afrikaans radio and television, Mr Matlare said that the SABC was always sensitive and careful in the selection of newsreaders across the language spectrum. There are those who constantly criticise the SABC on its choice of presenters, but that is "par for the course". He added that where the SABC is at fault, they always apologise.

Prof. Ruth Teer-Tomaselli (SABC Board) stated that the manner in which Africa is reported, occupies the minds of the SABC Board. On television in the news, every few minutes there is an African broadcast. In the last week, CNN had awarded the SABC for producing one of the best films. Jessica Pitchford also won an award for a documentary on AIDS orphans in Botswana, and how they were re-integrated into society. This was a story from an African perspective, by South Africans. While most trans-national programming in Africa has been in French, South Africa is providing more programming in English.

A member (ANC) asked when the Board intended to launch the two regional stations, and what preparations were being made towards the launching. Additionally, she wanted to know to what extent the Board had begun to see the public-funded broadcasting station materialise, and what steps they had taken towards establishing the model.

On sign language and close captioning, Mr M. Lekgoro (ANC) stated that the issue had been thoroughly conversed, and the Board had been too vague on its plans and policies. He wanted to be presented with programmatic forms and time frames for the implementation of policies towards alleviating the problem for the deaf and hard of hearing community.

In the light of the history of South Africans and Africans in general, he felt that television education programming could go a long way in terms of bringing self-awareness to Africans, by making them aware of their history. Their values and objectivity would be better informed by being informed of those things.

The Chairperson mentioned that many citizens tune in to the radio, and she therefore encouraged the Board not to neglect this form of broadcasting.

Mr M Phadagi asked the Board if, in broadcasting business news, the SABC could demystify the economic structure of the news for those who were less knowledgeable on the subject.

With regard to radio, he felt that many radio stations were copying YFM (a youth station). There was no radio station to entertain elderly people.

Mr Mokoetle said that the SABC would continue to address issues of content.

In response to all the questions regarding the planned new regional TV stations, Mr Maphai said that when the Board returned before the Committee in October, they would have much more clarity on those stations.

He thanked the Committee for hearing the SABC Board.

The meeting was adjourned.