Johannesburg - Communications Minister Faith Muthambi’s attempt to amend the Broadcasting Act to give herself the power to appoint and remove members of the SABC board is an admission that the law as it stands doesn’t give her this power.
That’s the view of Sekoetlane Phamodi, campaign organiser for the SOS: Support Public Broadcasting Coalition, one of three parties challenging the removal of SABC board members, in the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria.
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SOS, Media Monitoring Africa and the Freedom of Expression Institute mounted the court challenge after three members of the SABC board were removed last year by their fellow board members, with the approval of Muthambi.
Under the Broadcasting Act, this may be done only by the “appointing authority” – the president – on the recommendation of Parliament, after it has conducted an inquiry.
But Muthambi argued the removals were in line with the Companies Act and, despite having received a legal opinion contradicting this view, Parliament’s communications oversight committee deferred to the minister in the absence of its chairwoman, Joyce Moloi-Moropa.
She subsequently resigned from the committee.
Now Muthambi has tabled a Broadcasting Amendment Bill that seeks to give her the powers of appointment and removal.
The committee was to begin deliberations on the amendment bill this week but, at a heated meeting decided to wait for a legal opinion on whether it could process the proposed legislation while a court was deliberating on the same issue – a step opposition MPs argued would be in breach of the principle of the separation of powers between the legislature, executive and judiciary.
Phamodi said Muthambi’s eagerness to have the amendments passed despite the pending court case showed “that the minister has a firm understanding that her position won’t hold in a court around the interpretation of the Broadcasting Act vis a vis the Companies Act”.
Political Bureau
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