Chairperson, hon Ministers and members, the FD will not support this report by the Portfolio Committee on Communications, for the following reasons.
Press freedom and the independence of the public broadcaster are concepts derived from the national values of open democracy and are protected by this country's Constitution.
The SABC is a public facility with a mandate to build the democratic ethos of the nation. It should operate above political influence and it should hold power independent of government authority.
The problem with the SABC simply is that it is in a power-sharing relationship with government with nowhere to escape. The SABC was an instrument of the previous apartheid government, and today it is similarly serving the present government. What has happened at Polokwane is that there was a power shift. Before, it was easy for the SABC to be its master's voice, but since there is a new master lurking in the shadows, the SABC no longer knows who the master's voice is. This report is an attempt to purge the SABC in preparation for the newly elected pro-Zuma ANC National Executive Council, NEC. It is therefore to be expected that in a monopoly-charged environment such as in government's overriding majority, struggle for power between factions will spill over into public arenas such as Parliament. The Portfolio Committee on Communications is an example of the way such hostility is displayed.
The issue is no longer about democratic governance but about political control over the instruments of government.
We may or may not have agreed with the President's appointment of the SABC board, neither may we have liked the way the CEO of the SABC conducts business or the manner in which he was dismissed, but neither is it responsible oversight on the part of the Portfolio Committee on Communications to wish to oust the SABC board. Such actions will set precedents for abuse of state power. Thank you.