A meeting by parliament’s portfolio committee on communications & digital technologies this week to discuss the controversial SABC Bill has been postponed to allow communications minister Solly Malatsi an opportunity to meet with deputy President Paul Mashatile on the matter.
According to Malatsi’s spokesman, Kwena Moloto, the meeting was postponed to allow for a high-level political discussion of the bill before it is brought back to the committee. Speaker of the national assembly Thoko Didiza will join Malatsi and Mashatile in these discussions.
The meeting has been postponed to give the minister, deputy president and speaker an opportunity to meet and discuss the issues around the bill, Moloto told TechCentral.
The SABC Bill has been the subject of political contention since Malatsi withdrew the bill from parliament last November. Malatsi argued the bill in its current form failed to address the issue of SABC’s funding model adequately. Malatsi is also worried that the bill gave too much power to the communications minister over the appointment of the SABC board, thereby threatening its constitutionally mandated independence from the executive arm of government.
The move made Malatsi, a Democratic Alliance MP, the subject of much vitriol from a number of ANC MPs, including his own deputy, Mondli Gungubele, minister in the presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni and parliamentary committee chair Khusela Diko.
Diko in November described Malatsi’s move as “catastrophic” for the SABC, accusing Malatsi of “sounding the death knell” for the broadcaster.
Awaiting clarity
“To withdraw the bill at this stage means to delay the implementation of crucial reforms necessary to save yet another crucial and strategic public institution. Initiated by the government in 2018 and only introduced to parliament in October 2023, the SABC Bill seeks to, among other things, provide for the continued existence of the SABC…,” Diko stated.
In a portfolio committee meeting on Monday, Diko said the committee is awaiting clarity from cabinet on Malatsi’s authority to withdraw the bill. The committee has, meanwhile, also sought a legal opinion to advise it on the legality of Malatsi’s decision.
Read: Withdrawal of bill puts SABC at risk of collapse: Diko
“We are still in discussion with the minister. In fact, I was speaking to him this morning (Monday), where I think there is an appreciation of the need to move with urgency on this. Hopefully when they appear before us next week, they will be able to speak to what is going to be done,” said Diko. – © 2025 NewsCentral Media
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