Johannesburg - In a statement issued by the SOS Coallition - previously the Save our SABC Coalition - the Freedom of Expression Institute and Media Monitoring Africa, the civic organisations warn that the SABC is on a slippery slope.
They were reacting to the resignation of the acting CEO, Jimi Matthews, earlier on Monday. In his letter, Matthews said he could no longer be a part of the organisation. “What is happening at the SABC is wrong.”
Matthews pointed to issues such as a “corrosive” atmosphere and said he had been complicit in decisions he could not be proud of.
The civic society groups say his resignation, which is welcomed, comes on the back of several issues at the public broadcaster, including several protests over recent decisions the COO Hlaudi Motsoeneng has made, including that the broadcaster will no longer cover protests.
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“What is clear from Jimi Matthews’ letter is that there is truth to the reports of a serious clamp-down on the state-owned, national public broadcaster, and a deliberate misinformation campaign the likes of which we haven’t seen since under the apartheid era.”
The organisations say its sources have been telling them about bans on content on stories on issues and process, as well as bans on the SABC’s staff’s right to comment on the political developments in our country both on air and in their private capacities. “To this extent, the letter clearly and unambiguously signalled the alarm to all those who care for our democracy that censorship is alive and well at the SABC.”
In the statement, the parties add the SABC is on the precipice of losing all credibility and posing a clear and present danger to SA’’s democracy.
Read also: Twitter reacts after #JimiMatthews quits
A clear and present danger whose imminence we have repeatedly and consistently warned Parliament about and called on to address through an independent and depoliticised inquiry into the source of the cancer eating the SABC from the inside out, and work together in a multi-party process to arrest and resolve, once and for all.
The organisations want the broadcaster's board to immediately reverse all downward editorial decisions, launch a public investigation into the allegations made in Matthews letter and dismiss Motsoeneng.
IOL