EFF STATEMENT ON MULTICHOICE ANNOUNCEMENT OF GUPTA CORRUPTION PROBE

Wednesday, January 31, 2018

The EFF notes the Multichoice announcement of its own investigation into Gupta corruption in the company. For an investigation to be credible it must always be independent. As much as they argue there was involvement of independent law and audit firms, what will finally absolve them is the investigation by ICASA. 

Nevertheless, the EFF welcomes the decision not to renew ANN7 contract and the commitment that a new contract will be given to a South African black-owned media player. The ANN7 platform has not only discredited itself as a news and journalism player, it served as a front to defraud the state and the SABC. This has nothing to do with the actual journalists in its employ, but the activities of those who own it and benefit from its corrupt activities with government departments. 

Multichoice must find a way to negotiate with the new players to integrate workers from ANN7. This means the phasing out of ANN7 must coincide with allowing its staff employ to transfer to a new genuinely black-owned media house. 

Multichoice still has to prove itself in terms of commitment to transformation as a white monopoly in the pay television industry. The only test is when black media and film partners begin to share in the ownership, control and benefit of the pay television market. This, Multichoice has not proven; providing a tangible plan to change the structure of the ownership to reflect the demographics of the audiences it makes money from. 

The EFF calls on the Parliament Communications Committee to institute its inquiry into state capture so that Muthambi can be held responsible for her role. This includes all government departments that traded with the Guptas through New Age or ANN7; they must be probed. There is ample reason to believe, following the SABC enquiry, that these served as fronts for bribes in the advancement of Gupta and Zuma businesses with the state and its entities.

Statement issued by the Economic Freedom Fighters, 31 January 2018