CAPE TOWN – MultiChoice has released a statement stating that the company did nothing wrong when they met with the SABC board. Further stating that the meeting was not a secret. The minutes to the 2013 meeting in question was leaked to the public.
Sikonathi Mantshantsha, the Deputy Editor at Financial Mail has now come out swinging stating that MultiChoice has captured the SABC.
"It had R100 million to the SABC in order to influence the policy on digital migration so it can continue claiming its monopoly of the the pay-TV market and it went for R100 million per year for 5 years," Mantshantsha said.
"I spoke to Hlaudi Motsoeneng when he was still with the SABC and he was proud to have clinched this deal that only allowed MultiChoice to have its way on government policy and also gave away all the SABC's archives."
On Wednesday the SABC said it has "noted the publication" of various internal minutes dealing with the controversial MultiChoice agreement and said the contents were the reason it referred the matter to the Special Investigations Unit (SIU).
Hours after the Democratic Alliance alleged that minutes of an SABC board meeting show that MultiChoice sought to pay the public broadcaster R100 million for its 24-hour news channel in exchange for its political influence over digital migration, the new board distanced itself from the unfolding scandal.
The DA said minutes from the meeting held in June 2013 support media reports that MultiChoice paid Gupta-owned ANN7 millions of rand in exchange for similar influence over government's position on set-top boxes.
The wealthy Gupta brothers, who have close ties with President Jacob Zuma, face accusations of state capture in which they allegedly used their proximity to power to exert undue influence on state enterprises in order to win lucrative state tenders.
Read Also: SABC board says SIU probe into R100m MultiChoice deal must go ahead
-BUSINESS REPORT ONLINE