Western Cape Province Memorandum to the despotic SABC regime

20 July 2016

#SABCmustNOTfall

Desist from destroying our public broadcaster, the SABC

The time has come to act decisively against the destruction of a national asset, the SABC, and against the persecution of those inside it fighting to retain what little remains of its integrity as public broadcaster.

The SABC is a public asset, paid for by and accountable to the people of South Africa, and on which nearly half of our people rely exclusively for access to information on which basis they make decisions about their lives and this country.

The Board of the SABC is appointed by the president on nomination by the National Assembly, but it is ultimately accountable to the people of South Africa and exists for no other reason than to serve them.

Today, 20 July 2016, we, as the South African Communist Party (SACP) in the Western Cape, along with our alliance partners and affiliates, submit this memorandum to demand that the Board of Directors of the SABC, non-executive and legally appointed executive directors alike, act in accordance with the constitution of our country, public broadcasting law, the Public Finance Management Act and other pieces of regulation that is beholden upon the SABC.

We note that the SABC Board:

• Continues to permit the personality cult of Mr Hlaudi Motsoeneng to illegally occupy the office of Chief Operations Officer, in breach of a binding recommendation by the Public Protector, and of the findings of the Western Cape High Court, that his appointment is "illegal" and "irrational". Mr Motsoeneng`s appointment was unfair in terms of proper human resource management practices that must be observed in public organisations. A vacancy is supposed to be declared, advertised for suitably qualified individuals to have an equal opportunity to apply, all eligible candidates must be shortlisted, there must be interviews held and a decision made on the basis of objective outcome. The COO position at the SABC was never meant to be "a Hlaudi Motsoeneng job reservation affair".
• Has allowed Mr Motsoeneng, in his (illegal) capacity as COO to act as editor-in-chief, despite the fact the process by which the "policy" authorising him to act in this position was improper and in breach of the Broadcasting Act and its administrative justice, both of which are binding on the Board of the SABC, in that the public was not consulted on the draft policy.
• Has taken no action to prevent Mr Motsoeneng, also in his self proclaimed capacity as editor-in-chief, to illegally seek to impose on SABC staff an edict in terms of which they are supposedly prohibited from reporting on actions in which anyone sets fire to public property or engages in violent protests, although such censorship is illegal and unconstitutional.
• Has taken no action to halt sanctions by the SABC against those of its journalists with the courage and integrity to oppose this at attempt at censorship or to make their opposition there to known.

Our Demands:

We as the South African Communist Party in the Western Cape we demand:

• The immediate and reinstatement of dismissed SABC journalists and the dropping of all charges against them.
• The immediate scrapping of the SABC`s illegally revised editorial policies including the mandatory `upward referral` rule that gives one individual absolute power to decide what the people of South Africa can see and hear.
• The removal of Motsoeneng as COO, to which our courts have found that he was illegally, improperly and irrationally appointed. In addition he is a dedicated liar who sows division by misappropriating as a personality cult local content broadcasting, whereas in the first place he was all along at the SABC when our protest actions demanding more space and time for progressive local content based on a sound modelling were blacked out.
• We want you to respond positively with immediate effect before Thursday on the reinstatement of the dismissed SABC journalists and within a week, i.e. by July 28th 2016, on the other demands.

To the public at large, the SACP says:

"The SABC belongs to all South Africans. Working together we can, and must, reclaim the SABC back and restore its mandate as a public broadcaster. We must do away with the administrative and governance decay that is destroying the SABC. We must bring to an end exploitation by parasitic elements and monopoly capital who are privately accumulating wealth and public power out of the SABC."

Signed on behalf of the above mentioned organisations and individuals:

SACP Western Cape: SABC:

Date: 20 July 2016 Date: 20 July 2016

Sign: Sign:

Issued by the SACP Western Cape Province:

Masonwabe Sokoyi - SACP Western Cape Provincial Spokesperson
Cell: 0815846138/ 0765243242
Office: 021 696 2522
Fax: 086 558 2481
Twitter: @SACPWC
Facebook: SACP Western Cape
Email: sacpwc.media@gmail.com