OUTA joined 26 other civil society and media organisations in calling for the withdrawal of the SABC Bill, which Parliament may be trying to quietly push through as law.  This Bill raises red flags of government interference in the commercial and operational aspects of the SABC. 

As we reported last month, OUTA made a submission on the SABC Bill (see here). Much to the dismay of OUTA and several civil society organisations and media watch dogs, Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Communications and Digital Technologies abruptly cancelled all scheduled public hearings on the Bill.

A total of 17 submissions were received by Parliament, along with three letters of support. Many of these highlighted the same - and more - problematic aspects of the Bill. Many called for the withdrawal of the Bill, including the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) and etv.

The Portfolio Committee now says public hearings were cancelled due to all the opposition cited in the submissions, and that they are seeking legal advice on whether “the SABC Bill will still be viable to be processed in its current form given some serious concerns on the current draft.” 

If this is indeed the reason, we agree that no public hearings are required at this stage. What is worrisome, though, is that the updated programme released by the Committee still contains “discussion and finalisation of the SABC Bill”, scheduled on the 20th of March. Even though the Chairperson of the Committee attributed the error to the secretarial team, we remain on high alert until the programme is updated accordingly to exclude possible finalisation of the Bill without public input. 

OUTA will keep an eye on developments and keep you informed. You can read civil society’s statement (which OUTA endorsed) here.