I withdraw "hon Mpontshi". [Laughter.] Hon Mpontshane, on the issue of the imbizos, it is so funny that when the situation is bad and there is no service delivery, as they claimed on that side, you all blame the ANC, but when it is good, you want to share it with us. That cannot be right, hon Mpontshane.
We are the ANC, we are the leaders of this government and it wasn't given to us on a silver platter. Among the heroes who died for this government is Solomon Kalusha Mahlangu. They paid with their lives, so respect the ANC for that.
Modulasetulo o tlotlegang, ANC e amogela Tekanyetsokabo e jaaka e rebotswe ke Tona. Tona rre Chabane, kgang e ya tlhabololo le ownership ya makwalodikgang ke tlhoba boroko mo set?habeng. Re santse re itemogela kgatelelo ya bone jo: Naspers, Avusa, Caxton le Independent Group. (Translation of Setswana paragraph follows.)
[Hon Chair, the ANC welcomes the budget as delivered by the Minister. Minister Chabane, the issue of the development and ownership of newspapers is a nightmare for the public. There is still a monopoly by these four companies: Naspers, Avusa, Caxton and the Independent Group.]
The "big four" still dominate the entire value chain of the market, especially printing, distribution and advertising. The integration and the very market structure is perhaps the biggest barrier to market entry and potentially it shows possible anticompetitive behaviour. Other mainstream media players include Mail & Guardian and The New Age.
Go na le tse dingwe tse dinnye Tona tse di sa tseweng tsia jaaka makwalodikgang a baagi a a itemogelang kgwetlho ya matlole. Ka jalo, ga ba kgone go ka itsetsepela. Potso ke gore, Tekanyetsokabo e, e ba ama jang, e ya go ba thusa jang gore ba kgone go tsoga? Hon Shinn o tlhalositse mo puong ya gagwe ka dingwe tse re kopaneng le tsona fa re dira oversight gore gongwe go tlhokagala mokgwa mongwe wa gore ba ka thusiwa jang gore ba seke ba ikaega thata mo pusong. Tla ke neele sekao ka Bushbuckridge News ya kwa Mpumalanga.
Se se utlwisang botlhoko thata Tona, ke gore le rona re le puso re tsaya karolo mo go digeng makwalodikgang a mo gae gonne mafapha a puso ga a a dirise le fa go na le diphatlhatiro. Le rata City Press thata Tona. Go na le dipampiri tsa kwa magaeng tse re ka di dirisang gore bagaarona le bona ba bone tshono ya gore ba kgone go tsenya dikopo tsa ditiro tseo. (Translation of Setswana paragraphs follows.) [Minister, there are other small newspapers that are not given full consideration, like community newspapers, that experience financial challenges. Therefore, they can't sustain themselves. The question is, how does this budget affect them and how is it going to help in reviving them? Hon Shinn talked in her speech about some of the newspapers that we came across when we were doing oversight visits, explaining that they needed a method of getting help so that they could stop depending completely on government. Let me give the example of the Bushbuckridge News in Mpumalanga.
What is more heartbreaking, Minister, is that as the government we participate in killing our local newspapers because government departments don't use them, even when there are job vacancies to be advertised. You love City Press very much, Minister. There are rural newspapers that we can use so that our people will have the opportunity of applying for those vacancies.]
Hon Minister, we have observed with great concern that the apartheid behaviour patterns, which treat South Africans in an unequal and discriminatory manner, sometimes manifest in the conduct of the print media, including in content, coverage, distribution, management and opinions.
Despite denials - naturally - such attitudes and practices need to be confronted if the media is to be a mirror of the present democratic dispensation. The reality arising out of this situation is that the majority of South Africans do not have access to media that report on and project their needs, aspirations and points of view into the national discourse. The "big four" do not care for our national interests - their main focus is on profit. They even account to themselves.
Ba setse ba jele tlwae, ba tlwaetse go ikapeela ka meteme. E kete Aforikaborwa ke kwa mmapereko kwa mme-ga-a-mpone. Freedom Charter e rile batho ba tla busa, ga go bonagale Tona gore batho ba busa. (Translation of Setswana paragraph follows.)
[They are used to making a lot of money only for themselves. It looks like only a few individuals should govern and make money in South Africa. The Freedom Charter said the people shall govern, but it doesn't look like the people are governing, Minister.]
The agenda of government cannot be driven by the media. If so, they must also register with the Independent Electoral Commission as a political party.
I wish to reiterate that my constituency and also my political party, the ANC, are of the view that the media need to contribute towards the building of a new society and be accountable for its actions. Also, consistent with our resolutions with reference to print media, the ANC still notes that the current form of self-regulation, as expressed in the form of the Press Ombudsman Council, is not adequate to sufficiently protect the rights of the individual citizens, community and society as a whole. The Press Ombudsman has even acknowledged before the portfolio committee that they are toothless. We welcome the report and findings of the Press Freedom Commission.
Sadly, we have also noted that the print media industry is not covered by a sectoral broad-based black economic empowerment, BBBEE, charter, or and where media houses have concluded what looks like black economic empowerment, or BEE, transactions, they have not necessarily been translated into a diversity of views. This underlies the fact that advertising profiles and key management positions remain the same.
Let me take this opportunity to applaud the MDDA for achieving unqualified audits since its inception and under the leadership of Mr Lumko Mtimde, the chief executive officer.
The portfolio committee observed during its oversight visits to KwaZulu- Natal, Free State, Limpopo and Mpumalanga that the MDDA was really doing a good job. They have awarded grants amounting to R183,6 million to cover 407 projects and over 1 300 people were trained. The provision of 243 bursaries to different radio and print media was made. However, hon Minister, the declining funding for print media remains a serious challenge. This lack of funding is against the 2007 Limpopo resolution. The hon Minister and the Deputy Minister were there. Why is this difficult to implement, or are you afraid that that side will say you are funding the ANC?
The MDDA is strategically positioned to deal with the already highlighted injustices of the past; the historically disadvantaged; and specifically media diversity, transformation and ownership. The question is: Is the current funding model still relevant?
The MDDA has a limited role to play in achieving the print media transformation agenda. I therefore believe the MDDA must be empowered through legislation to be able to act on this matter and ensure that issues of media transformation reach finality.
In this regard, I support the notion that the print media must contribute to media development and diversity through the MDDA being given the requisite legislative powers. Despite some transformational changes that have taken place since 1994, regrettably the average black ownership in mainstream print media to date is 14% and women's participation at board and management level is 4,44%.
It has been observed during committee oversight that a lot more still needs to be done regarding ownership and usage of Thusong Service Centres. Government departments must be encouraged to use these centres as they are nearer to the people.
Clear control and monitoring systems also need to be put in place. The role of municipalities needs to be clarified. Sustainability of these centres also needs to be looked at. Again, hon Minister, the issue of uniformity is important.
It has been observed during oversight visits that in some provinces these centres fall under the premier's office while in other provinces they fall under Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs. I was impressed by the Mpumalanga model. [Applause.]
On Brand SA, I hope this name change from Integrated Marketing Communications reflects South Africa in the true sense. The ushering of democracy into South Africa meant that the national symbols had to reflect the principles of the new era. During strategic planning presentation, it was reported that 50% of South Africans see themselves as South Africans; I would like to add, as Africans in general.
With regard to the index, there is a slight drop, from 56,41% to 48,94%. To improve this, we must revive the World Cup spirit. Out of so many negatives, we did well as a country. Thanks to you, Brand SA, you are indeed the true sons and daughters of South Africa.
In conclusion, it is important to note that with reference to the upcoming national policy conference, the ANC believes that there is a need to ensure that there is no anti-competitive behaviour in the print media business process and the entire value chain. It also strengthens its commitment to media diversity and recommits to the principles of media freedom, freedom of expression, access to information, the right to communication, stricter control of media ownership, rules and regulations for media ownership, in consideration of public interest objectives.
As Philip Meyer pointed out in his important work, The Vanishing Newspaper:
If readers no longer trust a newspaper or a magazine, they will look elsewhere for the information they need, while the hard commercial reality indicates that a loss of trust could translate directly into print media companies.
So print media, watch this space!
Set?haba se le lebeletse. Ke a leboga. [The nation is watching you. Thank you.]