The South African Communist Party has expressed concern at the recent developments at the SABC, expressing its worry about at the removal of ANC-aligned member Hope Zinde from the SABC board for her apparent opposition to the sale of the public broadcaster’s archives to pay-television operator MultiChoice.
In a statement, the party placed on record its opposition to the sale, describing the archives as a “national resource”.
It also called for all agreements between the SABC and MultiChoice to be made public and requested that the Competition Commission investigate the DStv operator’s dominance in South Africa’s pay-TV market.
The party requested that communications minister Faith Muthambi and parliament’s portfolio committee on communications investigate the allegations of a breach of governance at the SABC and the operational challenges at the broadcaster.
The facts surrounding the sale of the archives must also be ascertained, the party said. If the archives have been leased, then it should be established if the terms of agreement are favourable to the country, considering that they are a national heritage. — © 2015 NewsCentral Media