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Mthembu: ‘We want to strengthen the SABC, not destroy it’

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Jackson Mthembu
Jackson Mthembu

ANC chief whip and its communications subcommittee chairperson, Jackson Mthembu, leaned back in his chair at Luthuli House, explaining that he did not represent himself when pronouncing on the SABC, but rather gave voice to the ANC’s position – in accordance with resolutions made at party conferences.

On Tuesday, Mthembu lambasted those heading up the public broadcaster for changing its editorial policy and putting a lid on press freedom – effectively, its chief operating officer, Hlaudi Motsoeneng, and the SABC board.

But since then, he has had to deal with ANC members contradicting his position.

Mthembu said he took heart from the fact that the dissenting voices were not official ones, and was quick to point out that ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe and his deputy Jessie Duarte supported his views.

“It is immaterial who says what. I heard the voices and did not respond because I did not feel the need to do so. If my movement disagreed with what I was saying, do you know who would have spoken against me? Mantashe and Duarte,” he said.

Mthembu has spent much of his time away from campaigning for local elections while attending to the latest developments at the SABC. He admitted that this was not good for the ANC.

On Tuesday, he condemned the “arrogant” decisions by senior managers at the public broadcaster, adding that the move to ban coverage of violent protests was tantamount to censorship.

He was quick to clarify that the ANC was not fighting with the SABC, but rather trying to strengthen it, as numerous resolutions made at ANC conferences had emphasised.

At past conferences, said Mthembu, the ANC resolved to stabilise the SABC and deal with issues concerning the lack of leadership and governance.

“But now we have to move with haste. It has to be done – fast.”

How soon? Mthembu does not know, but says that, ideally, the ANC should not carry the problems over to its policy conference next year. Does this mean there may be a complete overhaul of SABC’s management team?

“That is not up to me,” said Mthembu, adding that his subcommittee would make recommendations to the ANC’s top structures for a final decision.

He did not take kindly to accusations by SABC board chair Professor Mbulaheni Maguvhe that those who criticised the broadcaster had vested interests in seeing the corporation collapse as it would enable them to purchase its assets.

“How can we be the ones that want to destroy the SABC?” Mthembu hit back.

“I do not know where he [Maguvhe] was, but people went into exile so that we could enjoy these rights of not being fed what the master wants them to hear.”

Mthembu said it made no sense why ANC members would want to destroy the SABC while calling for it to be better funded. But, he suggested, since the SABC was so set on implementing what the ANC regarded as contravening the rights of South Africans to be properly informed, perhaps this should not be the case any more.

“We cannot fund censorship. So it is still open to the ANC to say, if we were to fund the SABC adequately, should we be funding decisions not to show our own people what is happening in their country? Will that be correct? It cannot be correct.”


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