Committee takes stand against Minister's powers

The ad hoc committee investigating the crisis at the SABC is likely to recommend that Parliament rejects aspects of the controversial Broadcasting Amendment Bill, according to a Business Day report. It notes Communications Minister Faith Muthambi quietly tabled the Bill in 2015, sparking an uproar because it seeks to usurp the National Assembly’s powers in appointing and firing non-executive members of the SABC board. The Bill also proposes that the number of non-executive board members be cut from 12 to nine as this would ensure ‘faster decision-making’. The ad hoc committee began processing its draft report yesterday on the hearings it conducted into the crisis at the public broadcaster. The report will not pronounce on ‘anyone’s guilt or innocence’, but contain observations and recommendations on how to turn the broadcaster around. The Business Day report says members of the committee appeared to agree that certain aspects of the Bill, particularly the clause that gives the Minister the power to appoint and fire SABC board members without the involvement of Parliament, are problematic. ANC MP and ad hoc committee member Makhosi Khoza said the Bill negatively affected SABC governance. ‘We need to make recommendations on the Bill, otherwise we will be as guilty as the (Communications) committee of giving the Minister (unchecked powers),’ Khoza said. Critics have said the Bill will render the SABC a state-controlled broadcaster much like it was under apartheid rule. It would place the SABC under Muthambi’s control.