Hon colleagues, today this House is poised to betray South African's right to freedom of expression, journalistic and creative independence through our public broadcaster. They are rights that are fundamental to the SABC Charter and enshrined in the Constitution. We are about to endorse the ANC's choice for the SABC board. The ANC would not compromise on the list presented to the Portfolio Committee on Communications. It refused to consider any names offered by the opposition parties.
While the ANC list includes people who are competent and whom the opposition parties supported in the spirit of democratic negotiations, it does not represent the best choice of appropriate skills and experience that was available. Many experienced, appropriately skilled, vibrant and young South Africans offered to use their talents and commitment to good corporate governance to salvage the SABC. These people, for whom the opposition parties lobbied long and hard, were totally ignored by the ANC because they did not come with the nomination or endorsement of the leading faction in the ANC or its allies. Instead of acting in the best interest of our public broadcaster and the millions of people who listen to and watch the SABC's channels, the ANC has chosen people who will submit to the dictates of the skills-bereft executive management of the SABC and Luthuli House.
The new board, viewed as a collective, will not have the necessary political independence, knowledge and experience to confidently honour the obligations under the Companies Act, other laws and regulations under which the SABC operates. We doubt that they have the necessary experience to challenge the dictates of the SABC's management, should it embark on initiatives that threaten the broadcaster's financial sustainability, erode its asset base and compromise its integrity in news and programming. Our argument does not concern the individuals on this list, but it concerns the ANC. It has put party affiliation above the requirements of the Broadcasting Act for the board to comprise a broad cross-section of South Africa's population and collectively to have qualifications and experience in the required fields. Most of the best available, appropriately skilled and experienced people that represent a broad range of committed South Africans are not on the ANC's list.
Today, this House is about to be party to abandoning the principles and values of the SABC Charter as a public broadcaster. We are about to hand over control of the SABC to the ANC. The SABC will become a state broadcaster, subject to the whims of a ruling faction of the ANC. The political interference that has increasingly brought the SABC into disrepute and disarray during the past 20 years is set to continue. The DA rejects the ANC's list for the SABC board. [Applause.]