ANC officials intend meeting communications minister Faith Muthambi to discuss her “unfortunate communication” about digital migration.
While the party’s communications subcommittee could not take disciplinary steps against her, it wanted to meet her following her comments about digital migration and resolutions taken at the ANC’s national general council (NGC), party spokesman Keith Khoza said on Tuesday.
She had gone against ANC policy by making public statements about NGC resolutions, Khoza said.
This was the job of the ANC’s secretary general, spokesman, or the chairs of party subcommittees.
She further “unfortunately accused the chairperson of the subcommittee of being a liar”, party spokesman, and chair of the communications subcommittee, Jackson Mthembu, said in a statement.
The communications ministry and ANC were in disagreement over what the subcommittee discussed at the NGC, held last week.
The party said South Africa’s “unfortunate failure” to migrate from analogue to digital broadcasting and the “terrible instability” at the SABC were discussed.
At issue was whether the set-top boxes required for digital migration should be encrypted or not.
In a statement issued earlier on Monday, the communications ministry denied that the NGC dealt with the encryption matter.
It said Mthembu’s statement, reported in Business Day and Business Report, that Muthambi had failed to consult the ANC on her digital migration policy, was “patently untrue”. — News24
