Newly appointed communications minister Yunus Carrim is moving quickly to familiarise himself with the problems plaguing South Africa’s public broadcaster.
The minister’s office said on Tuesday that both he and his deputy, Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams, will meet with the SABC on Wednesday. On the agenda are the challenges facing the broadcaster, progress in finalising digital migration, finalisation of a shareholder compact and progress in digital terrestrial television migration.
Carrim and Ndabeni-Abrahams will meet with the SABC’s board and management on the progress since the appointment of an interim board. On the agenda will be what assistance the department of communications can offer to ensure the SABC functions effectively, the minister’s office said in a statement.
At a swearing-in ceremony last week of new ministers in president Jacob Zuma’s cabinet, Carrim told journalists that the performance and management of state entities, and particularly the SABC, would improve.
“The plans [for the SABC] are not plans which I made alone. We are all excruciatingly aware of the need to stabilise the SABC board and its management. We need to improve its performance.”
Shortly after his appointment as minister, Democratic Alliance spokesman on communications Marian Shinn called on Carrim to “take a firm grip on the executive management of the SABC to ensure that it meets all the criteria laid down by national treasury in terms of the loan guarantee underpinning its turnaround strategy”.
In addition, she called on the “overstaffed” SABC to conduct an independent skills audit to identify “surplus or inappropriately skilled staff and, if necessary, the corporation’s downsizing must be managed without being held to ransom by trades unions”.
Carrim must also ensure that the SABC appoints “appropriately qualified and experienced people without political affiliations or obligations to all posts, in particular those currently staffed in an acting capacity,” Shinn said.
“The SABC serves the education, information and entertainment needs of all South Africans. If it is to regain credibility and lost listeners and viewers, it must be professionally managed by people committed to quality and impartial broadcasting.” — (c) 2013 NewsCentral Media
