DCDT & GCIS BRRRs

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Communications and Digital Technologies

18 October 2022
Chairperson: Mr B Maneli (ANC)
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Meeting Summary

Video

Tabled Committee Reports

The Committee met on a virtual platform to consider and adopt its Budgetary Review and Recommendations Report for the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies (DCDT) and the Government Communication and Information System (GCIS).  

The Chairperson first briefed the Committee on the current situation regarding the appointment of the SABC board and the engagements with the legal department and the legal advice received. This clearly stated that as the law stands, there was no provision in the legislation that once the Board's term had expired, the Committee could appoint an interim board. He gave an assurance that the day-to-day operations of the SABC would not be halted, as the Board was responsible only for the strategic leadership of the corporation.

After various recommendations, the Committee adopted the BRRRs for the DCDT and the GCIS.

The Committee also adopted the minutes of its last three meetings.

Meeting report

Update on SABC board appointments

In his opening remarks, the Chairperson clarified to the Committee the standing of the national public broadcaster, the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC). In line with the Committee’s decision, the vetting process would be allowed to be completed so that there were no board appointments which may later be questioned. A detailed report had thus been given to the House on where the Committee had started and where it currently was. There was a need to interact with the Leader of Government Business, as well as to provide information to the Minister, as a shareholder in the SABC, and to the President, who was the appointing authority.

There had been engagements with the legal department and the legal advice received was clear that as the law stands, there was no provision in the legislation that once the Board's term had expired that one could appoint an interim board. The legal advice would have been the steps the Committee had taken, given that this was about 12 unknown executive members of the Board. He added that the day-to-day operations of the SABC would not be halted, as the Board was responsible for the strategic leadership of the corporation.

The Chairperson confirmed that on 27 September, deliberations with regard to the candidates of the Board had started, although it had not been possible to recommend names. However, it was important for the Committee at the time to acknowledge the comments from the public, so that at the time of making recommendations of names, those public comments would have been considered.

He added that there was no political intention to stall the whole process -- this had been a prudent decision by the Committee that it would consider only those who had been vetted.

Ms D Kohler Barnard (DA) sought clarity on why the Committee had not started the vetting process earlier to curb possible delays. She also asked what the Committee’s plan was for the executive of the SABC, as it was currently functioning without the oversight of a board.

Ms T Bodlani (DA) asked for a commitment from the Chairperson on when the State Security Agency (SSA) would provide clearance for the board candidates so that there was no vacuum in the leadership, especially given that there was no provision for an interim board.

Dr M Basopu (ANC) indicated that it would be important to ensure the public was aware of the limitations of having an interim board, as there was no such provision in legislation. He urged the Committee to find an effective way to manage the process in the best possible way, to ensure its smoothness.

Ms Z Majozi (IFP) concurred with Dr Basopu that the Committee should manage the process so that it was fair to everyone.

The Chairperson indicated that the legal position of an interim board was that there was no dissolution, but that it was the end of the term for the Board. The law was silent about that, hence the complexity of appointing an interim board. That was why the Committee's letter was seeking assistance in pushing for the vetting process to be completed to make the recommendations for the actual Board, and not for an interim board, which was not provided for by legislation. Therefore, there was no plan for an interim board, as no such legal provision existed. The only plan was to get the recommendation process through and have an actual board appointed.

Budgetary Review and Recommendation Report (BRRR) of Government Communication and Information System

The Chairperson took the Committee through the observations and recommendations section of the draft Budgetary Review and Recommendation Report (BRRR) of the Government Communication and Information System (GCIS).

It was recommended that in the Committee's observations, it should not generalise to all radio stations -- it was important to specify that there was a need to ensure that community radio stations became self-sustainable, and that it was the task of the Media Development and Diversity Agency (MDDA) to ensure their self-sustainability.

 There were no objections, and the Members of the Committee moved the adoption of the BRRR.

Budgetary Review and Recommendations Report of the Portfolio Committee on Communications: DCDT

 The Chairperson noted a correction on the observations indicating that the Broadcasting Digital Migration (BDM) policy had a detrimental effect on entities implementing the programme and those directly affected, like the SABC, Sentech, the Universal Service and Access Agency of South Africa (USAASA)/Universal Service and Access Fund (USAF) and the South African Post Office (SAPO) reporting to the Department.

The Chairperson asked about the audit outcome regression that had been noted by the Committee on USAASA/USAF. He said there was a need to consult the annual report to capture the actual audit outcome -- whether it was a disclaimer or an unqualified audit.

Ms N Kubheka (ANC) said it should be noted that the Film and Publication Board (FPB) had managed to get a clean audit.

On the Committee’s observations on SAPO, Ms T Bodlani (DA) highlighted the issue raised by the chief executive officer (CEO) about not having an executive board, and said this should be captured correctly. She recommended that the concern that SAPO had management problems, and that everyone was still acting in a contract position except for the CEO position, should be amplified so that it included those who were acting.

Mr V Pambo (EFF) added his concern that vital vacancies were not filled, and said it should be listed which vacancies those were.

Ms Kohler Barnard said that the matter of the five SAPO employees who were fired was unclear, so it should be detailed as to who they were and the reason(s), including the circumstances around their dismissal. She also wanted clarity on whether there was mention in the report about the ongoing court cases at the SAPO, as some of those cases had been ongoing for a while.

Ms Kubheka referred to the point of concern that employees of SAPO had been subjected to alleged medical fraud, with money not being paid to medical aid companies, and requested verification of this issue.

The Members of the Committee moved the adoption of the report, with the recommended amendments.

Adoption of minutes

The Committee adopted the minutes of 20 and 27 September, and 11 October, without corrections.

The meeting was adjourned.

Documents

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