SABC chief operating officer Hlaudi Motsoeneng will make a formal submission to communications minister Faith Muthambi that journalists have a licence to practice, it was reported on Friday.
“We will be making these submissions. I am surprised at how Sanef [the South African National Editors’ Forum] has opposed this. This means that they are not doing their job properly,” he was quoted by The New Age newspaper as saying.
He said there must be consequences for errant journalists.
The newspaper reported that he was putting the final touches to an editorial plan that would be submitted to Muthambi.
Last Thursday, Motsoeneng proposed that journalists have a licence to practice like those in the medical and law professions.
He said journalists who acted unprofessionally should be stripped of their licences.
Sanef condemned the proposal, saying it revealed Motsoeneng’s ignorance about journalistic practice in a democracy. — Sapa