ATC130619: Report of the Portfolio Committee on Communications on the oversight visit to the North West Province, dated 18 June 2013
Communications and Digital Technologies
Report
of the Portfolio Committee on Communications on the oversight visit to the
The Portfolio Committee on Communications
(the Committee), having undertaken an oversight visit to the North West
Province from 6 8 June 2012, reports as follows:
1.
Introduction
This is a continuation of the oversight
visits by the Committee in line with its role and the mandate as per: (i) the
Constitution; (ii) and the National Assembly Rules.
The objective of the oversight visit served
as the measurement indicator against the service delivery commitment by the
executives. The theme of the oversight continued to be "
Touch,
Feel and See" how technology contributes to better the lives for all
and
amongst others the areas of focus were as follows:
(a)
The strides made in the progressive realization of rights as
contained in section 16(1) (a) and (b) of the Bill of Rights: (i) Freedom of
the media; and (ii) Freedom to receive or impart information or ideas. To this
end the Committee visited Media Development and Diversity Agency (MDDA)
community media projects, including those community broadcasters supported by
Department of Communications (the Department);
(b)
Efficiency of the Independent Communications Authority of
South Africa (ICASA) in licensing community broadcasting, and monitoring
compliance of licensees with license conditions, and other challenges in this
sphere of broadcasting;
(c)
The role played by Sentech in signal distribution for
broadcasting and challenges they are facing in providing services to this
Province;
(d)
To measure progress made by the South African Broadcasting
Corporation (SABC) in rolling out the low-powered transmitters in collaboration
with Sentech and ICASA; and
(e)
Successes and challenges: (i) experience by Universal
Service and Access Agency of South Africa (USAASA) in deploying
TeleCentres
for ICT services; and (ii) experience by South
African Post Office (SAPO) in rolling out postal outlets, addresses and
functionality of Public Internet Terminals (
PITs
); and
(iii) rollout of telecommunications and broadcasting infrastructure.
The Committee visited community media
projects (MDDA and the Department), Thusong Service
Centres
(Government Communications and Information System - GCIS), Tele-centre projects
(USAASA), SAPO postal outlets, Sentech and SABC Regional Office.
Furthermore, the oversight also assisted
the Committee to measure progress on the issues already raised during the
previous oversight visits.
2.
Delegation
2.1
Members
The delegation was divided as follows:
GROUP
A
:
Mr SE Kholwane (ANC Chairperson and leader of delegation); Ms S Tsebe (ANC) and
Ms M Shinn (DA).
Group
B:
Mr G Schneemann (ANC Whip and leader of Group A); Ms W Newhoudt-Druchen (ANC);
Mr D Kekana (ANC); Ms Z
Ndlazi
(ANC) and Mr
A
Steyn (DA).
2.2
Support Staff
Ms P
Sibisi
(Committee Secretary), Ms S Peer (Committee Secretary), Mr S Nene (Committee
Researcher), Mr N
Mangweni
and Ms N
Diya
(Committee Assistants), Mr K
Matlala
(Assistant to Mr Kekana); Mr F
Deysel
and Ms R
Davids
(Sign language interpreters for Ms
Newhoudt-Druchen).
2.3
Stakeholders accompanying the Committee
The Department, SAPO, South African
Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), Media Diversity and Development Agency (MDDA),
USAASA, GCIS, ICASA, and Sentech.
Day 1
(6 June 2012)
Group A visited the following projects: (i)
Vaaltar
FM Radio Station; (ii)
Tabea
Media Centre; and (iii)
Moretele
Thusong Service
Centre.
Group B visited the following project: (i)
Leretlhabetse
Thusong Service Centre and
Telecentre
; (ii)
Lethlapile
Community Radio Station; (iii)
Lethlapile
Post
Office; and (iv)
Mabeskraal
Telecentre
.
GROUP
A
3.
Vaaltar
FM
The Committee was welcomed by the Station
Manager, Mrs
Tshepiso
Motlogela
and the members of the Board of Directors of
Vaaltar
FM.
3.1
Overview of
Vaaltar
FM
Vaaltar
FM is located in Taung,
Dr Ruth
Segomotsi
Mompati District Municipality,
under the local
|
Vaaltar
FM has been
registered as a Non-Profit Organization (NPO). It was granted a license by
ICASA in 2000 and was subsequently granted another four years license in
October 2008. It will celebrate its 12th year of existence in November 2012.
|
|
The concept started in 1995 as a result
of the merger of two (2) community radio stations,
Vaalharts
Community Radio and Taung Community Radio, to form one community radio
station,
Vaaltar
FM. The station received blessings
of Chefs
Mothibi
, Chief
Mankuroane
and Chief
Motlhabane
.
|
3.2
Programming
The station has the mandate to: (i)
motivate and inspire the community; (ii) advocate on behalf of the community it
serves; (iii) empower the community in gaining necessary knowledge and skills
that will help develop the socio-economic factors; and
(iv) instill
positive lifestyle amongst society in general through quality programming.
3.3
Achievements
The station has the following achievements:
(i) three (3) community members and four staff members attended an End-User
Computing NQF level 3 course and they all graduated; (ii) clothes were handed
over to the needy families in the community, schools and organizations for
people with disabilities; (iii) the number of clients placing adverts with the
station has increased; (iv) fully compliant with its license conditions and consistently
submits compliance reports to ICASA; and (v) the radio station is accessible to
people outside the area through an audio-streaming software application and
would in future be accessible through cell-phones and Internet.
3.4
Challenges faced by the Station
The station has the following challenges:
3.4.1
Governance
·
Old policies that have not been amended; and
·
Inconsistency in financial and resource management.
3.4.2
Finance
·
Lack of skilled and competent financial manager; and
·
Unresolved debt with the South African Music Rights
Organisation (SAMRO).
3.4.3
Old Studio Equipment
·
The Departments pronouncement at the National Community
Broadcasters Conference in
·
Station paying R5000 rent in an old building; and
·
No alternative source of power when there are electricity
disruptions.
3.4.4
Need for a vehicle
·
The station had requested MDDA for an Outside Broadcasting
(OB) van (vehicle) to assist the stations efforts of reaching out to the broader
community, especially those currently not covered; and
·
MDDA had not yet responded to the stations request.
3.4.5
Human capital
·
The station was unable to pay its volunteers reasonable
stipends due to lack of alternative sources of revenue.
3.4.5
Frequency adjustment
.
·
Station would like to cover the entire Dr Ruth Mompati
District Municipality.
3.4.6
Advertising
·
No support from national and provincial government
departments except for Greater Taung municipality, GCIS and small number of
local businesses; and
·
The station is not happy with the use of Media Advertising Brokers.
3.5
Observations
The Committee noted the following: (i) The
Department is currently looking at the findings after it had commissioned a
research study on how to improve the support provided to the community
broadcasting sector; and (ii) the commitment of SAPO to be in contact with the
station so that they can place advertisement as and when there are new products
and services on offer, for example, Motor Vehicle License Renewal.
3.6
Recommendations
The Committee recommends that: (i) the
Department should provide a progress report on the undertakings it made in
relation to providing support to the station; (ii)
ICASA and Sentech must assist the station regarding
the expansion of coverage following the stations request to extend its
footprint; (iii) MDDA should provide a progress report regarding the SAMRO
issues, especially the criteria used to determine payment options; and (iv)
ICASA should come to the area and hold workshops at community level to
highlight consumer awareness issues.
4.
TABEA VAAL TIMES
The Committee found that the
Tabea
Vaal
Times is an
independently-owned publication, which covers news, advertising and
communication.
The newspaper has a staff
compliment of seven (7) people.
Tabea
is not yet a
beneficiary of MDDA and has not previously applied for grant funding.
4.1
Challenges
The station highlighted the following
challenges: (i) still waiting for a response on its application to secure a
building where the newspaper will operate at a total cost of R1 800 per
month;
(ii) high printing costs charged
by Harold Publishing and
Caxton
publishers; (iii) printing
companies
prioritising
retail shops printing orders
ahead of the community media; (iv) no funding from MDDA; (v) anti-competitive
behavior by conglomerates has necessitated the newspaper to turn down an offer
of R120 000 to buy them off at the end of 2011; (vi) Premiers Office using
advertising brokers when placing adverts in the newspaper; (vii) income
generated by the newspaper is used to pay stipends and distribution costs.
4.2
Way Forward
MDDA committed to assisting
Tabea
Vaal
Times once it has
secured new premises.
5.
Moretele
Thusong Service Centre
5.1
Overview of
Moretele
Thusong Service Centre
The Thusong Service
Centre is a programme of government, which was initiated in 1999 as a primary
vehicle for the implementation of development in communications and information
serviced and to integrate government services into primarily-rural communities.
This was done to address historical, social and economic factors which limited
access to information, services and participation by citizens, as they had to
travel long distances to access these services.
5.2
Challenges
The
following challenges were highlighted during the presentation: (i) the Centre
was neglected even though it was still new; (ii) no Service Level Agreements (
SLAs
) signed by sector department except for Department of
Home Affairs; (iii) no access to postal services; (iv) no community radio in
the municipality; (v) no signage directing people to the Centre; (vi) no
parking facilities; and (vii) no Telkom network points at the Centre.
5.3
Observations
The
Committee noted that: (i) the building was empty with an exception of one box
containing government information; and (ii) management, staff and the community
were not educated about the services offered by entities such as Sentech,
USAASA,
ICASA
etc.
5.4
Recommendations
The
Committee recommends that: (i) SAPO must provide the community with a mobile
Post Office; (ii) ICASA to give a report regarding all Post Office outlets
which upon inspection were found to have not complied with their postal service
license conditions as well as non-compliance issues by Sentech
in relation to all connected signal
distribution transmitters that were supposed to be switched on but were
awaiting the Ministers availability to attend the switching-on ceremony; (iii)
the Department and its entities must visit
Moretele
and hold educational workshops on Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) Migration,
Universal Service and Access, broadband and consumer issues such as Information
Communication Technology (ICT) products that are not type approved by
ICASA,
including the dual-
sim
-card-carrying mobile phones that are illegally sold in
the market; (iv) USAASA must provide a provincial breakdown of all 400 ICT
Centres under the Rapid Deployment Programme and the total number of hubs that
will be rolled out in the province; (v) GCIS must provide a report on a
turnaround strategy of
utilising
the five Thusong
Service Centres in the province; (vi) the Department must provide a
comprehensive report on the number of community media used to advertise the DTT
campaign; (vii) the Department must conduct a public awareness campaign on DTT.
GROUP B
6.
Leretlhabetse
Thusong Service Centre and Tele-centre
The Committee was welcomed by Mr Joseph
Moloisame
, Tele-centre Manager and Ms
Sophy
Mashishi, Tele-centre Administrator, and was later joined by Mr Enoch
Lamola
, Thusong Centre Manager.
6.1
Overview of the Centre
The
Leretlhabetse
Thusong Service Centre is located in the
Lebotloane
village under Chief
MolatlhegiNawa
,
6.2
Services Rendered at the Centre
The Department of Home Affairs provides the
following services on Tuesdays and Thursdays: (i) identity document
applications; (ii) issuing of identity documents; (iii) birth certificate
applications;
(iv) issuing
of birth certificates; (v)
late registrations of births; and (vi) enquiries.
The South African Social Security Agency
(SASSA) provides the following services: (i) child support grants; (ii) old age
grants; (iii) procurators; and
(iv) life
certificates.
Social Development renders their services
on Tuesdays namely: (i) supervision of foster care grants; and (ii) family
disputes.
South African Police Services (SAPS)
renders services in accordance to the SASSA programme in respect of: (i)
certification of copies; (ii) normal affidavits; and (iii) SASSA affidavits.
Due to lack of clients, the Department of
Labour (
DoL
) only renders their services on the last
Thursday of every month.
The Rural Development/Disaster Desk is at
the centre on a daily basis and is in partnership with
Bojanala District Substance and Drug Abuse
Association (
BODISAC) for outreach programmes as well as
marketing their services.
GCIS provides government information to
communities by means of Internet access and government magazines such as
Vukuzenzele
.
Standard Bank assists the community in the
opening of accounts for SASSA beneficiaries and encourages people to make use
of the bank for grant payments.
Consumer Affairs office educates people of
their rights as consumers particularly during the registration of grants.
6.3
Tele-centre
The Tele-centre is a Non-Governmental
Organisation (NGO) which provides the following services to the community from
the surrounding villages: (i) Internet and email services; (ii) basic computer
skills; (iii) referral information;
(iv) job
preparation; (v) entrepreneurial skills; (vi) life skills; and (vii) career
guidance.
On 17 September 2011, a robbery took place
at the Centre in the presence of two security officers who were on night-shift
duty. The following goods were stolen from the Centre: (i) one (1) HP printer;
(ii) one (1) black Lexmark printer; (iii) nine (9) white computer mouse; (iv)
ten (10) computer Central Processing Units (CPUs) and (v) ten (10)
keyboards.
However, they were recovered
by the SAPS.
On 5 April 2012 USAASA donated ten (10)
computers to the Tele-centre and installation was effected on 9 April 2012,
inclusive of the configuration for Internet access by an Information Technology
(IT) technician from the State Information Technology Agency (SITA).
6.4
Achievements
The Centre has the following achievements:
(i) serviced 15 000 people since it was opened; (ii) National Youth Development
Agency (NYDA) was brought to the Centre as a youth advisory centre point and to
help youth start businesses; (iii) partnerships were formed with Council for
Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and the University of South Africa
(UNISA); (iv) 700 students trained in computer skills of which 265 have managed
to find employment in various sectors; (v) assisted youth with career guidance,
living healthy lifestyles and starting their own businesses; and (vi)
partnerships were also formed with
the Bojanala District Substance and Drug Abuse Association (
BODISAC)
and other NGOs in
Lebotloane
and
Moretele
Local Municipality.
NYDA and A1 Chemicals, which is a
manufacturer of industrial and home detergents, have partnered to create
self-employment opportunities for young people aged between 18 and 35. The
project was initiated where unemployed youth underwent a selection process to
ensure that deserving applicants are selected. This will ensure people are
focused, business minded and able to sustain their businesses. Applications
were submitted by the youth through the Tele-centre, from different areas
namely:
Lebotloane
; De-greens;
Bolantlokwe
;
Mmukubyane
;
Flinkzyndrift
;
Little Trust and
Swartboom
. There were 22 successful
applicants and a workshop was held with them where they were trained in
Business Management and implementation of activities associated with running a
business such as planning a business and organizing a business.
6.5
Challenges
The following challenges were raised at the
Thusong Service Centre and Tele-centre: (i) the lights are not working, roof is
leaking and air conditioners are out of order; (ii) security is a problem and
there is no working alarm system, no burglar bars and there is a shortage of
security staff and those present are unarmed; (iii) there is a lack of access
for people with disabilities (those who are using wheelchairs); (iv) the
entrance to the Centre needs to be fixed and upgraded to ensure proper access
control is conducted by security personnel; (v) staff at the Tele-centre are
not being remunerated; and (vi) the Tele-centre equipment is not in a working
condition.
6.6
Observations
The Committee noted that the building was
too cold and not conducive to work in.
6.7
Recommendations
The Committee therefore recommends that:
(i) the municipality should fix the building as soon as possible; and (ii) the
municipality should provide gas heaters at the Centre as soon as possible.
7.
Letlhabile
Community Radio Station
The Committee was welcomed by Acting
Station Manager, Mr
Zidane
Chitheka
.
7.1
Overview of the Radio Station
Four (4) youth from
Letlhabile
initiated the concept of starting a community radio station in 1997 and started
broadcasting in 2000. Dr Molefe offered his house to be utilised as a studio
and assisted with payment of the initial application. The main aim of the radio
station was to help remove youth from streets, give them a voice to express
themselves and to educate and inform the community.
The radio station has 29 staff members
broken down as follows: six (6) news readers; nineteen (18) presenters (2 are
on the management team); two (2) security personnel; a housekeeper; Station
Manager and an Administrative Officer. There are five (5) trainees of which
four (4) are females and one is male.
In 2009, the Department funded the
community radio station with studio equipment and renovated the studio. The
main source of income for the radio station is through Media Connection and
GCIS.
7.2
Achievements
Letlhabile
community radio
station successfully achieved the following: (i) produced highly skilled staff
that were later employed by
Motsweding
FM, Capricorn
FM, North West FM and YFM, as well as ICASA; (ii) taking part in Bring a girl
child to work, together with
Borakalalo
Game Reserve
and Cell-C; and (iii) improved content on social issues with the help of NGOs
such as:
Letlhabile
Network Against Domestic
Violence, Child Abuse and HIV/AIDS (LENADOVICA),
Kutullo
Disability Care Centre,
Maboloka
HIV and Aids
Awareness Organisation (MAHAAO),
Rekakgona
Old Age
Home, and
Phaphamang
Traditional Healers.
7.3
Challenges
The station highlighted the following
challenges: (i) unable to reach Brits due to the position of the stations
antenna; (ii) currently broadcasts from a rented house; (iii) no transport for
staff; (iv) no relationship between the station and
Madibeng
Municipality; (v) provides own signal distribution due to high cost for Sentech
signal; (vi) financial constraints due to the lack of advertisements; (vii)
Motswako
Media still owes the station a substantial amount
of money and the station has not been able to recover the it; (viii) no support
from the Board; (ix) the station is unable to retain female staff members mainly
due to staff poaching; and (x) no funding from MDDA .
The MDDA responded to the challenge on site
and confirmed that the application for funding had been approved in principle
for the amount of R1 million for a new transmitter, salaries, rent, as well as
capacity building for staff.
7.4
Observation
The Committee noted and was pleased that
the MDDA has approved the grant for the station which should be received by the
end of June 2012.
7.5
Recommendation
The Committee recommends that an urgent workshop
must be held to assist Board Members in understanding their fiduciary role in
the community media sector.
8.
Lethlabile
Post Office
8.1
Overview
Lethlabile
has a population
of 20 000 with the following points of presence:
Maboloka
West Post Office and
Rabokala
Retail Postal Agency
(RPA). The Post Office has one (1) branch manager, two (2) tellers and one (1)
postal assistants and services about 4840 clients a month.
The Post Office provides the following
services:(i) pension payouts; (ii) money transfers; (iii)
Mzanzi
money transfers - pin based transfers; (iv) Postbank services; (v) third party
payments; (vi) stamps, fast mail and pre-paid envelopes; (vii) national lottery
- Lotto; (viii) mail delivery; and (ix) street delivery.
8.2
Mail Delivery
Lethlabile
mail delivery
depot renders street and post box delivery services,
with
3950
boxes on the premises of which 2728
are rented and 1222 are vacant. It has a staff complement of one (1) supervisor
and five (5) postmen who are contracted through a labour broker.
Operations include: (street delivery
services) (i) three-sized (3) walks; (ii) one (1) expansion walk; (iii) 7617
delivery points; (iv) average monthly volumes of approximately 21606; and (v)
post box delivery services has average monthly volumes of approximately 60901.
|
RURAL
STREET ADDRESSES ROLLED OUT (APRIL 2012)
|
|||
|
Lethlabile
Municipality
|
Number
of villages
|
Number
of households
|
Number
of delivery points rolled out
|
|
45
|
21983
|
24661 (2 audit)
|
|
|
POST
BOX ADDRESSES ROLLED OUT (APRIL 2012)
|
|||
|
Lethlabile
Municipality
|
Number
of Post
Boxes
|
Post
Boxes in use
|
Vacant
Boxes
|
|
3950
|
2728
|
1222
|
|
8.3
Challenges
The Post Office highlighted the following
challenges: (i) shortages of staff; (ii) no security personnel; (iii) no
Internet facilities; and
(iv) the
Post Office require
bigger premises.
8.4
Observations
The Committee noted with concern that: (i)
the business office service centre was not functioning; (ii) post boxes are
cancelled for street deliveries; (iii) no GCIS information stand; and
(iv) although
the Post Office had five (5) counters, there
were only two (2) tellers.
8.5
Recommendations
The Committee recommends that the Post
Office: (i) must market the renting of post boxes (ii) community radio stations
should be used for this marketing amongst other marketing strategies; (iii)
urgently fill all vacant positions and increase staff compliment to enable full
use of counters, and (iv) urgently get a GCIS stand to provide the necessary
government information to customers; and (v) management should address the
issue of long queues which results in people sleeping overnight outside the
Post Office building in order to be first to receive services.
9.
Mabeskraal
Tele-centre
The Committee was
welcomed by Ms
Dorcas
Modisane
,
the Centre Manager.
9.1
Overview
of the Centre
The Tele-centre was
established in 2005 and started operating in January 2006. It was an initiative
by a group of unemployed local women. The main reason for establishing the
Tele-centre was to provide community members with a facility where they can
undergo computer literacy training. The target market for the project is
schools, unemployed youth and adults residing in
Mabeskraal
and surrounding communities.
Mabeskraal
is a rural area,
situated approximately 150km from Rustenburg. The Tele-centre provides services
to over 5000 customers per year from the
Mabeskraal
community as well as from neighbouring villages such as
Tweelagte
,
Bapong
,
Letlhakeng
,
Dwarsberg
,
Khayakhulu
,
Ratau
. The Tele-centre aims to be
a world class community-owned computer training centre within the
9.2
Achievements
Since 2006,
Mabeskraal
Tele-centre has offered beginners and advanced
computer skills to more than 800 youth and adults within the community and
neighbouring villages.
In 2007, the
Tele-centre received a certificate from the Department of Social Development
Certificate of selfless dedication and commitment in uplifting the community
to the National Building Progress.
In 2009, the
Tele-centre signed a Memorandum of Understanding (
MoU
)
with the South African Local Government Association (SALGA) Learning Resource
Group and
Umsombovu
Youth Fund (UYF), to implement
the DO IT for yourself entrepreneurship and life
skills.The
partnership was meant to increase awareness of entrepreneurship.
Learners who
graduated from the Tele-centre with computer skills have been subsequently
employed by various government departments.
Income from the
Tele-centre was used to pay stipends, buy stationery, pay rent, repair
equipment,
buy
window blinds and partitioning.
9.3
Services
Rendered at the Centre
The centre provides
training skills in: (i) Ms Word; (ii) Ms Excel; (iii) Ms PowerPoint;
(iv) Internet
services; (v) Ms Access; and (vi) Ms
Publisher.
Daily
administration customer services includes: (i) photocopying; (ii) typing; (iii)
printing; (iv) scanning; (v) Internet; (vi) laminating; (vii) business cards;
(viii) photo-studio; (ix) binding; (x) program design; and (xi) faxing.
Technical services
Hardware includes: (i) motherboard replacements and repairs; (ii) failed
power supplies; (iii) hard drive upgrades and replacements;
(iv)
CD-
Roms
servicing; (v) computer memory (RAMS)
upgrades; and (vi) CPU replacements.
Software ranges
from: (i) Windows operating system repairs and upgrades; (ii) virus and
spyware
removal; (iii) system security; (iv) users
(administrators/guest users); (v) disk recovery; (vi) full system reload and
data backup; (vii) device setup and configuration; and (viii) disk cleanup.
Local Area Networks
(LANs) and PCs on a network and Internet services include: (i) modem support
(ii) active directory configuration; (iii) file sharing; (iv) firewall; and (v)
managing LAN networks.
9.4
Challenges
The Tele-centre
highlighted the following challenges: (i) no accreditation on its courses; (ii)
the building is too small; (iii) fewer computers in working order; (iv)
insufficient funds for advertising and pamphlets; (v) assistance
is
required with affordable Internet services; and (vi)
assistance is required in formulating module content.
9.5
Observations
The Committee noted that: (i) USAASA has
previously provided Internet services but currently the Tele-centre is making
use of prepaid Internet bundles purchases; (ii) the fees per learner amounts to
R1200, which is used to cover expenses such as stipends and rent; (iii) the
Tele-centre has various success stories which should be widely communicated in
order to assist other Tele-centres; (iv) community members raised the issue of
creating a community radio station in
Mabeskraal
as
well as refurbishing the Post Office; and (v) the Tele-centre was well run and
very successful in its
endeavours
.
9.6
Recommendations
The Committee
recommends that: (i) USAASA should continue to assist the Tele-centre,
including the provision of Internet; (ii) the Tele-centre should engage the
Department of Education and other organisations to assist with attaining accreditation;
(iii) government premises be identified and submit the necessary applications;
(iv) the MDDA should assist the community with setting up of a radio station;
(v) and SAPO should assist with refurbishment of the Post Office in
Mabeskraal
.
Day 2
(7 June 2012)
GROUP
A
10.
EXCOMBATANT
ASSOCIATION (ECA): VRYBURG COMPUTER TRAINING AND TELE-CENTRE
10.1
Overview of ECA
Excombatant
Association
Vryburg Computer Training Tele-centre was established as a special programme of
the African National Congress (ANC) with the aim of integrating the disbanded
Umkhonto
We
Sizwe
cadres into the
community by
utilising
their skills to effectively
participate in bringing about a positive-oriented change.
It was officially launched in February 1993
with its main focus on integration of ex-political prisoners and former exiles
in
Since its formation in 1993, ECA went into
partnership with experienced NGOs that conduct training needs in communities on
end-user computing.
ECA had two main Tele-
entres
in
10.2
Achievement
The Tele-centre was launched with the aim
of training exile returnees, ex-political prisoners and disadvantaged youth in
the
Bophirima
District.
The Tele-centre was funded by the Japanese
Vocational Centre (JVC) and Danish Development Agency (
Danida
).
In 1996 ECA trained communities in the
Bophirima
District that included Vryburg,
Kuruman
with almost 216 villages and
Ganyeza
which has 90 villages. The training focused on office management, administrative
and communication skills.
In 1996 ECA
enjoyed offers from government through training of twenty (20) staff members of
Phatshima
Hospital, sixteen (16) staff members of the
Vryburg Health District, sixteen (16) staff members of the
Ganyesa
Clinic and six (6) Board members of Vryburg Hospital.
That quantified the ECA training capacity and
aligned it to government requirements.
ECA also had an opportunity to train former
members of 32 battalion and their immediate beneficiaries in 2001. It also
launched a computer training centre in
Pomphret
in
conjunction with CSIR. USAASA sponsored the equipment used in the Tele-centre.
10.3
Challenges
The Tele-centre has the following
challenges: (i) no salary or stipends are paid to staff; (ii) it is struggling
with rental costs; (iii) the courses offered are not accredited;
(iv) lack
of financial support; (v) only one computer is in a
working condition.
10.4
Observations
The Committee noted with concerns that
despite the fact that USAASA has been consistently paying Sentech for Internet
connectivity, it is evident, as observed during the oversight visit that there
was no connectivity in many Tele-centres across the country.
10.5
Recommendations
The Committee recommends that USAASA must
assist and facilitate the provision of accreditation to all
Telecenters
so
that they can be self-sustainable.
11.
Vryburg Post Office
The total number of SAPO retail staff at
Post Offices was 409 and the total number of retail agents was 144.
The province intended to establish additional
points of presence in the following areas:
Modderspruit
;
Odinburg
; Erasmus;
Tantanana
;
Ga-Rasai
;
Oskraal
;
Segwelane
;
Oukasi
;
Lobathla
and
Magosane
.
11.1
Vryburg
The population of Vryburg was 49 588 with
three (3) points of presence namely:
Vryburg,
11.2
Products and services rendered
This Post Office provides the following
services: (i) pension payouts; money transfers; (ii)
Mzanzi
money transfer pin based transfer; (iii) Postbank services;
(iv) third party
payments; (v) products and services
stamps, fast mail, prepaid and envelopes; (vi) National lottery; (vii) mail
delivery; (viii) and street delivery and private boxes.
11.3
Mail delivery services: VRYBURG
Vryburg mail delivery depot provides street
and post box delivery services.
Its
staff compliment comprised of one (1) supervisor and six (6) postmen of which
three (3) were permanent and three (3) were contracted through labour
brokers.
11.4
Mail delivery services: TAUNG
Mail delivery services are controlled and
supervised by the Branch Manager. The Centre has two (2) operations: street
delivery and post boxes delivery services.
The Taung Post Office services 104 villages with 3250 delivery
points.
The average monthly volume of
letters was estimated at 16 481.
This
mail delivery service Centre has nine (9) staff members.
11.5
Volumes
handled by hubs in the
|
Mail
Centre
|
Raw
Volumes
|
Inflow
Volumes
|
Process
Volumes
|
|
|
4367386
|
27055924
|
36026480
|
|
Potchefstroom
|
2686798
|
30530199
|
38548475
|
Staff
complement of the hubs in the
|
Mail
Centre
|
Mail
Centre Manager
|
Hub
Controller
|
Mail
Centre Admin
|
Mail
Centre Supervisor
|
Mail
Processors
|
|
|
-
|
1
|
1
|
5
|
36
|
|
Potchefstroom
|
-
|
1
|
1
|
4
|
20
|
11.6
Address roll-out in
11.7
Challenges
The following challenges were highlighted
during the presentation: (i) SAPO revealed that there were more than 10 areas
that needed the rollout of Post Offices within the district; (ii) the Vryburg
Post Office offers services to a population of over 49 000 as opposed to the
postal rollout rate of
1 :
10 000; (iii) there
was a high number of vacant positions at the Post Office; (iv) most people
prefer street deliveries compared to postal boxes and therefore there is a slow
uptake of postal boxes in the area with a total of 4 309 vacant boxes; (v) the
demarcation of SAPO into six (6) regions does not resemble the current
demarcation of provincial and municipal areas across the country. North West,
which is a province on its own falls under Gauteng with its Regional Manager
based in Bloemfontein; (vi) the province has the highest retail postal agency
at 105 and a shortfall of over 2000 postal outlets; (vii) high number of
burglary incidents; (viii) decline in the number of business using postal
services; (ix) number of complaints from people about inefficiencies at Vryburg
post offices; and (x) The stakeholder management function of SAPO in Vryburg is
weak and there were complaints
by the
Premiers Office of Vryburg post offices the disregard of stakeholders
meetings.
11.8
Observations
The Committee noted that although the ratio
for postal rollout is 1: 10 000 and the fact that there should be postal
service within a 5km radius, the reality was that were many people who had to travel
long distances to get postal services.
11.9
Recommendations
The Committee recommends that SAPO: (i)
must provide a number of postal retail agencies that will be migrated to fully
fledged Post Offices in the area; and (ii) SAPO must provide a report with
timeframes on when will the rolling out of a Post Office will begin and be
completed in
Moreletele
.
12.
Sentech:
Vryburg Transmissions Control Centre (TCC)
The Regional
Office of Sentech is in
12.1
Vryburg TCC
Vryburg TCC
has a staff complement of eight (8) which comprises of an operations manager,
one (1) office administrator, one (1) team leader, three (3) technicians, one
(1) electrician and two (2) maintenance officers.
The
staff
works very
well as a team and constant training is provided when there is a need.
12.2
Responsibilities
The Vryburg
TCC services 19 local broadcasters and is responsible for maintaining signal
distribution in the province. It is also responsible for installation of new
signal distribution equipment and attends to listeners complaints.
12.3
Television and frequency
modulation sites
There are 24
low power transmitter sites that are serviced by the TCC.
12.4
Clients
Vryburg TCC
has the following clients: (i) public broadcaster - SABC1, 2 and 3; (ii)
commercial broadcasters
eTV
, Radio North West, O-FM
and Jacaranda FM; (iii) Radio RSG, SAFM,
Motsweding
FM, Lesedi FM and
Umhlobo
Wenene
;
and (iv) Community Broadcasters Village FM,
VaalTar
FM,
Mafikeng
FM and
Kopanong
FM.
Television coverage area differs from
region to region.
Some regions are able
to receive coverage of SABC 1, 2, 3 and e TV.
Some are able to receive coverage of only SABC 1 and 2 and some are able
to receive coverage of only SABC 2
e.g.
Groot
Marico
covers only SABC 2;
Madibogo
is able to receive coverage of only SABC 1 and
2.
Christian is able to receive coverage
of all channels i.e.
SABC
1, 2, 3 and e TV.
The above applies to radio coverage as well
e.g.
Groot
Marico
only
receives Jacaranda FM, SA FM, RSG and
Motsweding
FM
when others can access more or less the same.
Taung radio coverage is for North West FM and
Vaaltar
FM.
12.5
Low Power Transmitters
Sentech has rolled out and switched on over
60 low-power transmitters for radio and television coverage in remote areas
where coverage did not exist before.
In the North West province: (i)
Logagane
low power transmitter was switched on during the
2011/12 financial year; (ii) On 29 May 2012, the Deputy Minister of
Communications switched on the Dry Harts and
Louwna
low power transmitters.
The 10W Dry
Harts low power transmitter provides SABC 1, 2 and 3 coverage to a population
of 12 160.
The 2W TV transmitter
provides coverage for SABC 1, 2 and 3 to a population of 448 whilst the 10W FM
transmitter provides coverage for
Motsweding
FM to a
population of 122.
There was a low power transmitter in
Dinokana
; however, it could not be switched on due to
delays with frequency spectrum approval by ICASA.
During the current 2012/13 financial year,
the following low-power transmitter sites have been planned for switch on:
Disaneng
,
Madinyonyane
,
Kgokgojane
,
Kelokilwe
,
Makwasie
and
Wollies
.
12.6
DIGITALTERRESTRIAL TELEVISION
As of 8 March 2012, there were only eight
(8) deployments of DVB-T2 in the world (apart from
those on
trial
) and there was no other country with a DVB-T2 deployment to cater
for all television broadcasting needs (i.e. public and commercial).
Sentech has been tasked by government to
fully migrate all affected broadcasters from analogue to digital television by
December 2013.
By 31 March 2012, Sentech
had exceeded the targeted 60.91% and thus proving that Sentech is indeed
capable of
migrating
the country into the digital
broadcasting age.
In the
12.7
Corporate Social Investment (CSI)
Through the CSI programme,
Kwena
Tlase
High School in
Ramokokastad
within the Moses
Kotane
Local Municipality was provided with a computer laboratory equipped with fully
functional computers and Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) Internet
connectivity: (i) 20 computers; (ii) five-years VSAT Internet connectivity;
(iii) network installation; (iv) electrical cabling; (v) four-year-service
management; (vi) classroom repainting; (vii) provision of desks and chairs; and
(viii) security reinforcement.
GROUP
B
The Committee
visited the
Mafikeng
Post Office, GCIS, SABC,
Mafikeng
FM and North West University (NWU) FM.
13.
The Committee was
welcomed by Mr Ali
Nemarumane
, Regional Manager and
Mr George
Phakati
, Mail Centre Manager.
13.1
Overview
Mafikeng
has a population
of 271 501 with the following six (6) points of presence:
The Post Office provides the following
services: (i) pension payouts; (ii) money transfers; (iii)
Mzanzi
money transfers - pin based transfers; (iv) Postbank services; (v) party
payments; (vi) stamps, fast mail and pre-paid envelopes; (vii) national lottery
- Lotto; (viii) mail delivery; (ix) street delivery; and (x) private
boxes.
13.2
Mail Delivery
Operations include: (i) six (6) sized
walks; (ii) five (5) expansion walk; (iii) 3846 delivery points; (iv) average
monthly volumes of approximately 70549; and (v) with twelve villages.
|
CENTRAL
REGION: VOLUMES HANDLED BY HUBS IN THE
|
||||||||
|
Mail
Centre
|
Raw
Volumes
|
Inflow
Volumes
|
Process
Volumes
|
|||||
|
|
4367386
|
27055924
|
36026480
|
|||||
|
Potchefstroom
|
2686798
|
30530199
|
38548475
|
|||||
|
CENTRAL
REGION: VOLUMES HANDLED BY HUBS IN THE
|
||||||||
|
Mail
Centre
|
Raw
Volumes
|
Inflow
Volumes
|
Process
Volumes
|
|||||
|
|
452697
|
2583103
|
3486841
|
|||||
|
Potchefstroom
|
573380
|
2795209
|
3491903
|
|||||
|
CENTRAL
REGION: STAFF COMPLEMENT OF HUBS IN THE
|
||||||||
|
Mail
Centre
|
Mail
Centre Manager
|
Hub
Controller
|
Mail
Centre Admin
|
Mail
Centre Supervisors
|
Mail
Processors
|
|||
|
|
-
|
1
|
1
|
5
|
36
|
|||
|
Potchefstroom
|
-
|
1
|
1
|
4
|
20
|
|||
13.3
Challenges
The Post Office highlighted the following
challenges: (i)
high staff turnover
which leads to
the requirement to
recruit more staff; (ii) non-reporting and performance of temporary staff;
(iii) one vacancy in
Mafikeng
and six in
Mmabatho
; and (iv) delivery mail volumes in rural areas are
low and continues to decline.
13.4
Observations
The Committee noted with concern that: (i)
the business service centre had no Internet, fax or photocopy facilities; (ii)
no Public Internet Terminal (PIT); (iii) the branch has open counters which
poses a security risk; (iv) the GCIS stand is present but contains outdated and
limited information; (v) the building is extremely big with the hub
utilising
two (2) floors; coupled with is the poor
maintenance of lifts, which often breaks down and as a results this impacts or hampers
negatively in the business process; and (vi) distribution takes place from Wits
(Gauteng) to the
Mafikeng
hub and trucks can be
hijacked in the process of delivering mail.
13.5
Recommendations
The Committee
recommends that the Post Office: (i) must urgently fill the vacancies at both
Mafikeng
and
Mmabatho
postal
outlets; (ii) should utilise the entire space available at the building in
order not to waste resources; (iii) must liaise with GCIS to ensure that the
GCIS stand is filled with updated government information; (iv) cameras at the
hub should be repaired as a matter of extreme urgency to avoid tampering with
mail; and (v) Telkom should be engaged to assist with Internet connectivity at
the hub.
14.
GCIS:
The Committee was
welcomed by Ms
Kagiso
Maremetsi
,
Centre Manager.
14.1
Communications activities implemented at
GCIS aims to inform
citizens and align messages across the three spheres of government to ensure
coherence. From January to May 2012, GCIS conducted the following development
communication activities: (i) back to school campaign,
SoNA
,
School Governing Body (SGB) elections, Human Rights Day activities, Freedom Day
activities and Workers Day month development communication workshops; (ii) 180
communication interventions conducted; (iii) 130 Development Communication
Projects conducted; (iv) provide government key messages in accordance with the
theme month to electronic and print media; (v) provided strategic support
during public participation undertaken at
Tswaing
Municipality-Minister of Labour 21 April 2012,
Tlokwe
Municipality Defence Review Committee 5 May 2012,
Lekwa-Temane-Deputy
Minister of Justice launch small claims court at
Bloemhof
;
(vi) four (4) town hall meetings, six (6) door-to-door conducted during
SoNA
and GCIS budget vote; (vii) post
SoNA
seminar by Minister Richard
Baloyi
at
Lichtenburg
postponed by the Premier; (viii) ten (10)
_local communication assessment reports compiled; and (ix) fifteen (15) my
district today good news stories submitted.
14.2
Distribution
A total of 207 000
material containing government information was distributed during January May
2012.
Government
information that is distributed include: (i) 50 000 copies of
Vukuzenzele
Newspaper; (ii) 60 000 pocket size copies of
faces of government; (iii) 15 000 national identity pocket size booklets; (iv)
1 000 A2 posters face of government; (v) 20 000 copies of the South African
Revenue Services (SARS) pocket size booklet and 15 000 SARS newsletters; (vi) 60
000 Programme of Action (
SoNA
booklet); and (vii) 1
000 South African year books.
GCIS made use of
the following community media: (i)
Moretele
FM,
Letlhabile
FM,
Mafisa
FM and
Village FM at Bojanala District; (ii)
Aganang
FM and
Star FM at Dr Kenneth
Kaunda
District; (iii) NWU FM
and
Mafikeng
FM at Ngaka Modiri Molema District; (iv)
Vaaltar
FM at Dr Ruth
Segomotsi
Mompati District; and (v)
Mmega
Dikgang
,
Fountain of Hope,
Maf
-Town
Sportimes
,
North West Economist, The Update,
Vaa
Times, Youth
Today, and
Tabea
Newsletters.
14.3
Challenges
GCIS identified the
following challenges: (i) lack of monitoring and evaluation support on the
Thusong Program from the Office of the Premier; (ii) lack of communication
structures or officials at
Tswaing
,
Ditsobotla
,
Maquassi
Hill,
Mamusa
,
Lekwa
Temane
and Naledi Local Municipalities; (iii) Inability of government
departments to implement communication score
card; (iv) Mayors and Councilors not attending phone-in programmes at community
radio stations; and (v) departments not signing the lease agreements for space
occupied at the Thusong Service Centres.
14.4
Observations
The Committee noted
with concern that the storeroom is filled with documents, inclusive of brail
documents meant to be distributed.
14.5
Recommendations
The Committee
recommends that: (i) in the event of Mayors and Councillors unable to meet with
community radio stations, a relevant official should be requested; and (ii)
GCIS should provide the Committee with a report on the positive outcomes,
achievements and services from government.
15.
SABC:
The Committee was
welcomed by the Provincial General Manager, Mr
Tlotlo
Seru
.
15.1
Overview
by SABC Management
SABC North West is
the home to
Motsweding
FM which currently commands a
listenership
of approximately 3.1 million and the only full
spectrum Setswana radio station in the country, with reach in
The SABC North West
works closely with community radio stations namely
Mafikeng
FM, Village FM and NWU FM and also offers technical support if so required.
Mafikeng
FM rents its premises in the SABC building. With
regard to universal access, the SABC continues to put in optimal effort. The
recent low power transmitters switched on at the province were in
Pomfret
in May 2011,
Sannishof
in
August 2011, and on 30 May 2012 four other transmitters namely Dry Harts,
Louwna
,
Dinokana
and
Logagane
were switched on, with its launch held at Dry
Harts. In total 16 sites were identified for switch on. The
15.2
Head
Count and EE status
The total staff
complement is currently 96 permanent and 87 freelancers. The Content Enterprise
position is currently vacant in respect of the provincial organogram.
|
Gender
|
Permanent
|
Freelancers
|
|
Male
|
36
|
52
|
|
Female
|
58
|
35
|
|
Race
|
Permanent
|
Freelancers
|
|
African
|
93
|
85
|
|
Coloured
|
2
|
2
|
|
White
|
1
|
-
|
15.3
Administration
and residential properties
The North West
Broadcast Centre has amongst others the following facilities: (i) five (5)
television studios - 148
metres
squared to 896
metres
squared; (ii) ten (10) editing facility rooms; (iii)
ten (10) radio and production studios; (iv) two (2) final control rooms; (v)
digital master control room; (vi) C-band satellite dish; (vii) ATM network;
(viii) UPS power; (ix) two (2) power generators; (x) lighting grids (the
biggest of which one (1) is motorized; (xi) drake
comms
in all the TV broadcast facilities wing; (xii) make-up room with showers, hair
salon and make-up area; and (xiii) TV Outside Broadcast garage which is149
square
metres
.
It has two (2)
office blocks measuring 149 square
metres
with four
floors which are currently rented out to external tenants such as the
Department of Health, Auditor General of
15.4
Challenges
The management of
SABC North West identified the following challenges: (i) procurement related
activities (tenders adjudication and approvals); (ii) employment equity
targets; (iii) maintenance of corporate houses (focus should now be on core
business); (iv) centralized budgets are required; (v) review of policies; (vi)
stories are covered but not
flighted
; (vii) transport
problems/fleet shortages; and (viii) quality control on adverts (Setswana
adverts on
Motsweding
FM are not properly recorded).
15.5
Meeting
with Employees
Employees raised
the following issues, however was reluctant to do so in the presence of
management: (i) staff has low morale; (ii) the building is dilapidated and
under-utilised; (iii) concern that the houses being rented by staff are to be
sold; (iv) clarity was sought with regard to allegations made against SABC
Board Members and powers of the Committee in this regard; and (v) security
particularly in respect of searches being conducted.
Management provided
the following response to the issues raised by employees: (i) SABC is
privileged to have the current building and staff is encouraged to convey to
management all problems related to the building, which will be duly addressed;
(ii) full utilisation of the building will be discussed with the Department;
(iii) the Committee was briefed regarding allegations made against Board
Members and further briefings are envisaged.
15.6
Recommendations
The Committee noted
the issues raised by employees, their reluctance to do so in the presence of
management, together with the responses provided by management and recommends
that staff submit their concerns in writing to the Committee.
16.
The Committee was
welcomed by Mr Adam Mohammed, Board Member and Bishop Daniel
Matebesi
.
16.1
Overview
In August 2003, the
Department held a convention where the idea of establishing a community radio
station was initiated, upon closure of Sunshine Radio. By November 2003, a
draft constitution was presented to a broad cross-spectrum of community
representatives. In 2005,
Mafikeng
FM was granted a
periodic license and in 2006, the elected board rectified the constitution.
In 2008, the radio station was registered as
an NPO and was granted a broadcasting license by ICASA on wave band 96.7 with a
radius of 100 km for a period of 5 years.
Mafikeng
FM
broadcasts 24 hours for 365 days in three languages namely Setswana (75%),
English 20% and Afrikaans 5%. From 2005 to date, the station was inundated with
governance and management problems, which include court orders and of the four
(4) general meetings convened, three (3) were disrupted. ICASA had to intervene
and these indifferences were settled on 17 April 2012 and in addition, a
properly elected Board of Directors will be inducted by the Greater Ngaka
Modiri Molema District at the elective annual general meeting on 23 June 2012.
With regard to
management there is stability and administrative issues are well taken care of.
Administration includes Human Resources, Finance and Marketing, as well as News
Division and Programming Division. The radio station has various sector
policies in place for proper management and a staff complement of 42 (29 males
and 13 females), of which 32 are volunteers.
Listenership
is stable at 192 000 as indicated by South African Advertising Research
Foundation (SAARF). Broadcasting is conducted from SABC North West Region
buildings and rental is highly unaffordable which has resulted in astronomical
arrears. Sentech monthly levy was also too high, it has been reduced to R13
000.00 but has already led to arrears which were settled by the Department.
16.2
Achievements
Mafikeng
FM has the
following achievement: (i) annual narrative reports for the period 2008/9 and
2009/10 were submitted to the Department of Social Development; (ii) finances
for periods 2008/9, 2009/10 and 2010/11 were audited and mismanagement of funds
was discovered and reported to the South African Police Service (SAPS); (iii)
since 2011 the station fully complied with the Public Finance Management Act
(PFMA) and transactions are done by cheque or electronic transfer.
16.3
Challenges
The radio station
highlighted the following challenges: (i) insufficient support from the
Department; (ii) need to secure stable telephone and Internet connection, as well
as to acquire incentives from mobile companies; (iii) acquire own transmitter,
office equipment, outside broadcast equipment and furniture; (iv) reasonable
rental amount required from the landlord; (v) training for staff is required;
and (vi) governance with the executive.
16.4
Observations
The Committee noted
that: (i) most of the issues pertaining to the radio station was inherited from
Sunshine Radio; (ii) the letter from the Premiers office in relation to the
donation of equipment from Sunshine Radio to
Mafikeng
FM should be clarified; and (iii) although the station is in an advantageous
position in
utilising
the SABC building in respect of
professional sound and content, technical matters should be reviewed before
acquiring alternative premises; and (iv) the unsuccessful applications made to
the MDDA due to infighting amongst the Board and allegations of
mismanagement.
16.5
Recommendations
The Committee
recommends that: (i) the election of the new Board should be done immediately;
and (ii) continued engagement with the Committee on successes and challenges is
strongly encouraged.
17.
NWU FM
(
The Committee was
welcomed by Mr Lester
Mpolokeng
, Executive Manager
and Mr
Mostert
, Finance Director.
17.1
Overview
North West University
Mafikeng
Campus applied for a community license in
October 2006. During the application process, numerous requests from ICASA were
made for extensive documentation within unreasonable timeframes and the
application became a contest between NWU and
Mafikeng
FM. A low power license was granted in April 2011 after NWU engaged the legal
office. Broadcasting started on 13 September 2011 and the station was launched
on 21 October 2012.
Signal distribution
costs from Sentech amounts to R13 950.00 per month which is too expensive for
the radio station, and hence it purchased its own transmitter for R44 118.00
and broadcasts 24 hours daily. Technical support is provided by SABC North
West.
Governance and
management of the radio station is led by an Advisory Committee which includes:
(i) Chairperson Campus Rector; (ii) Deputy Chairperson Community; (iii)
Registrar; (iv) Director Finance; (v) Representatives from the Department and
the Student Representative Council (SRC); (vi) one (1) community member; (vii)
Executive Manager and (viii) Station Manager.
17.2
Relationship
between NWU FM and the
The University
provided R200 000.00 for the first year of existence of NWU FM and all the
stations financial transactions are subject to University processes and
procedures and audited by external auditors. In 2012, the University loaned the
station R100 000.00 for the purchase of a server, workstations and payment of
license fees. Academic staff members and students of the University share their
expertise with the community and include political science, psychology,
nursing, social work, law and governance.
17.3
Challenges
NWU radio station
identified the following challenges: (i) reception around
Mahikeng
is very poor; (ii) students travel from
Itsoseng
,
Lichtenburg
and
Zeerust
to access
the station; (iii) within six (6) months of being on air the station
experienced problems with the transmitter and Sound Fusion borrowed NWU FM a
transmitter in the interim; and (iv) due to poor coverage the radio station
does not attract much advertisers GCIS are the main advertisers.
The following
support is required: (i) production studio equipment; (ii) training of
presenters; (iii) expansion of coverage radius;
(iv)
incentives
for presenters; (v) media educational awareness; and (vi)
information related to support structure.
17.4
Observations
The committee noted
that ICASA acknowledges that services and topography forms part of the criteria
to be met for licensing, together with community involvement.
17.5
Recommendations
The Committee
recommends that ICASA provide a report on non-approval or approval of license
for NWU FM.
DAY 3
(8 June 2013)
GROUP
A AND B
On the final day of
the
18.
Mafisa
FM
18.1
Overview
of
Mafisa
FM
Sixteen years ago
the radio station was provided with a broadcasting license which was issued to
Talent FM and later renamed
Mafisa
FM. The Board is
elected every four (4) years and is allowed to serve two (2) terms. The last
Board was elected at the Annual General Meeting in February 2012 and consists
of eight (8) members (three (3) females and five (5) males) and all are below
the age of 35.
The staff includes
a librarian, sales technician, and news readers, who are all permanent
employees. However, the station does not have a programmes manager. The salary
bill amounts to approximately R1.4 million. The station endeavors to provide
relevant information to the community and as a station seek to grow
listenership
, which currently stands at 214 000 listeners.
18.2
Achievement
The station has the
following achievements: (i) building and furnishing a house donated to a family
in the community; (ii) donated food parcels to poor families; (iii) donated
wheelchairs;
(iv) provided
shelter for a child headed
family; (v) hosting the general secretary of Federation of International
Football Association (FIFA); and (vi) acquiring funding from MDDA for a studio.
18.3
Challenges
The following
challenges were highlighted by the station: (i) rates of SAMRO are the same for
community radio stations and commercial radio stations; (ii) sustainability is
a challenge; and (iii) requires support from government in respect of
advertising; (iv) financial constraints due to operational costs and a high
salary bill; and (v) lack of staff training initiatives.
19.
Stakeholders meeting
The
Committee concluded its oversight visit by holding roundtable discussions with
representatives of the community media and the following issues were raised:
·
The MDDA and GCIS
were urged to strengthen the call for a certain percentage of government
ad-spend to be allocated to community media;
·
The MDDA should
continue to provide grant funding to community media as well as
providing them with the non-financial support
which will help build capacity in projects while helping projects to comply
with the funding conditions respectively;
·
Many managers and
mayors are not aware about the existence of the MDDA Act; as a result local and
provincial government vacancies and general adverts are placed mainly in
National Newspapers;
·
There were concerns
raised about the anti-competitive behaviour from
Caxton
and Harold Media Houses which have caused many newspapers to close;
·
USAASA was putting
up a tender for connectivity because the agency felt that it was not getting
any value for money from the previous contract holder (Telkom);
·
Telkom was
requested to ask the companys group marketing division to look into the issue
of placing adverts through community media;
·
Due to the non-compliance of SAPO with the
postal service licence conditions
in the
·
SAPO will engage
with GCIS to resolve the issue of absence of the GCIS stands with government
information in their offices;
·
Stakeholders raised
concerns that
GCIS had allegedly given a
tender worth millions to
Caxton
to distribute
Vukuzenzele
Newspaper while community media carrying the
Vukuzenzele
newspaper will only be given R2 000 per
month;
·
There were
allegations of disparities in signal distribution coverage allocated to
institutions of higher learning where the Universities of Pretoria and
·
ICASA undertook to
investigate the possible
frequency
interference of the
·
ICASA will work
with all role players in the province through their education officers to
create awareness about the illegal mobile products in the market; and
·
Stakeholders raised
concerns that there seems to be confusion between the support given to
community broadcasters by Department of Communications and the MDDA.
19.1 Committee remarks
·
The Committee
expressed its sincere concerns that Sentech had been using the population
coverage instead of the geographical. In addition, the Committee noted that
there was no available information from Sentech on how it plans to cover the
entire province and what different coverage approaches will be used for areas
that have
topographical
challenges
.
·
The Committee
observed that there were a number of challenges facing Thusong Service Centres
in the province, including newly built structures that are unoccupied due to
the fact that generally Head of Departments in provincial government have not
signed
SLAs
with municipalities.
·
The Committee
observed that there was confusion on the status of broadcasting equipment
ownership between the SABC and
Mafikeng
FM.
Mafikeng
FM had on several occasions defaulted on its
monthly rental fee.
·
The Committee was told that there were many
(21 residential) properties owned by the SABC in the North West that are not
put into good use and the building of the SABC had too many studio facilities
that were not used.
·
The SABC does not
fully comply with the National Key Point requirements.
·
ICASA has noted the
space and platform provided by the Thusong Service Centres and will in future
make use of these venues when conducting consumer awareness campaigns.
20.
Overall Recommendations
The Committee recommends that:
·
MDDA should provide a detailed report on the status of the
issues highlighted during the
stakeholders
meeting;
·
USAASA must work with MDDA in identifying community media to
which DTT awareness campaign adverts will be placed and provide a detailed
report to the Committee;
·
SAPO must provide a report on its proposal to alternate the
clause 35 of the Postal Act, 124 of 1998 as amended which requires that
non-delivered letters must be sent to its Cape Town Office, where parcels can
be auctioned off;
·
Sentech should provide a detailed report on geographical
coverage in the province, which must entail details such as when will the
entire province be covered, which parts of the province require low-power
transmitters
and at what costs;
·
GCIS should provide a detailed report on the status of all
the Thusong Service Centres in
·
SABC must provide a report on how it planned to solve
the equipment issue and the strategy of cutting down rental amount paid by
Mafikeng
FM.
Report to be considered.
Documents
No related documents