ANC Proposed Amendment to Broadcasting Act of 1995: discussion

Meeting report

ANC Proposed Amendment to the Broadcasting Act of 1995
Mr K Khumalo (ANC) stated that the ANC proposed an amendment to Section 15(a) of the Broadcasting Act 4 of 1995 because the removal of the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) board members needed to be regulated by the rules of the National Assembly. The Motion needed to be granted before the end of the current Parliamentary session.
Ms S Vos (IFP) pointed out that trying to speed up the process of getting the amendment Bill into the National Assembly before allowing political parties to consult on it could have a negative effect.

Mr Khumalo stated that the independence of the SABC was very important. He elaborated that the ANC was not proposing a major change to the Broadcasting Act but an observation has been made by the ANC study group that it was time that the removal of the SABC board members be regulated by the rules of the National Assembly. The amendment would mean that if at any given time it was felt that an SABC board member was underperforming, a vote of no confidence could then be passed by the House. He therefore requested that a Motion of Desirability for the amendment Bill be placed in the ATC.

Ms Vos stated that she could not support the Motion of Desirability before she was granted the opportunity to consult with her political party on the issue.

The Chair explained that the Amendment Bill would be publicised for public consultation. A Motion of Desirability should thus be granted. The Members of the opposition were still able to go back and consult with their respective political parties. Any issues and concerns raised by parties would be discussed in the Committee’s next meeting.

A Motion of Desirability was granted for the legislative proposal made by the ANC.

Adoption of minutes
Mr Khumalo stated that minutes were an important record of the Committee’s work. Thus if the minutes were not tabled on a weekly basis, the important elements could be lost and that piling up of minutes could result in inefficiency.

The Chairperson pointed out that it could involve administrative difficulties, but nevertheless agreed that minutes should be tabled on a weekly basis.

The Committee considered and adopted its minutes of various previous meetings held between February and June 2008, with amendments.

The meeting was adjourned.