Speech delivered by Gavin Davis MP, DA Shadow Minister of Communications in the Department of Communications (GCIS) Budget Vote Debate, 15 July 2014

LET'S DISMANTLE THIS PROPAGANDA MACHINE BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE

Let me begin by congratulating the Honourable Minister and Deputy Minister on their appointment to the Cabinet. I look forward to working with you.

Let me also pay tribute to every journalist who reports the news without fear or favour.  Our democracy depends on each and every one of them.

Chairperson, as we deliberate on the GCIS budget today, we must acknowledge that this is a period of great uncertainty for the Department.

The splitting up of the former Department of Communications has raised many      questions. But the most important question is "why"? And more specifically, "why now"?

We have entered the age of convergence - where traditional broadcasting is merging with new digital technologies.

So, why is the Department diverging when everything else is converging?

There may be very good reasons, but none have been forthcoming. In the absence of any reasonable explanation, our thoughts turn to more sinister motives.

What exactly is behind the creation of this new Department? As with all things related to this government, the answer is purely political.

Chairperson, the governing party is losing its grip on power. It is a fact that, under President Zuma:

• The ANC recorded its worst ever election result this year;
• The party dropped in Gauteng by 10 percentage points; and
• At the next local election, the ANC is in danger of losing three cities.

Guptagate, Nkandlagate, Spygate and Marikanagate have shredded the President's reputation. To survive the next five years, he needs a good story to tell. And he needs all the help he can get to tell it.

So when the President appointed the Cabinet in May, he really put his Faith in Communications. And, make no mistake, Minister Muthambi is a very strategic deployment.

In her first few weeks in Office, we have learned that the Minister wants to create what she calls a "professional army of communicators" to bring about an "information revolution".

The Honourable Minister has been at pains to deny that this is a propaganda ministry. But her constant criticism of the media suggests otherwise.

Last year, when she was still a member of this Portfolio Committee, she said in this very Budget Debate:

"(The) Media continues to publish negative news on government, disregarding the good service delivery record of government."

The Minister has continued in this vein since assuming Office. She said a few weeks ago (and I quote):

"I will be the happiest person if we can have a situation where every South African is informed about what government is doing. There are people out there doing good, but the story is not being told."

Clearly, the Minister thinks it is her job to tell this good story. It is not.

Chairperson, the GCIS, with a budget of R413 million, is at the heart of the government's new propaganda machine. It should concern us all that the GCIS will now be working much more closely with the SABC, under the aegis of one Minister.

It is this arrangement, more than anything else, which signals the SABC's shift from public to state broadcaster.

The Minister knows how much she needs the SABC for this project. As she said last week (and I quote):

"The effective use of the 18 radio stations of the SABC stands between us and reaching millions..."

So it must be of some concern to the Minister that fewer people are watching and listening to the SABC than before. Internal research commissioned by the SABC (which was quickly buried) has shown that the key reason for declining audiences is the perception that the public broadcaster is partisan.

And who can blame viewers for thinking this?

Over the last few months and years:

• We have seen the appointment of SABC Boards stacked with ANC deployees;

• We have witnessed opposition party adverts being banned from SABC TV at election time;

• We have heard that SABC journalists are under surveillance and their phones are being monitored;

• And, last but least, we have seen the rise and rise of Hlaudi Motsoeneng. This is a man who interferes in editorial decisions, who says that 70% of the news must be "happy news" and who says journalists should be licensed. It is an indictment on the SABC that his rise through the ranks has gone unchecked.

If the Minister wants to regain lost viewers and listeners, she needs to show in word - and deed - that she is committed to protecting the SABC's independence. But, instead, she has already done the precise opposite.

Since assuming office, the Minister has given the impression that the SABC must compensate for negative stories in the press. She has said that she wants to give herself absolute power to hire and fire the SABC Board. And, inexplicably, she has protected and promoted Hlaudi Motsoeneng when he should have been fired.

No wonder people are switching channels.

But where do they go? Most people cannot afford satellite television. The big commercial radio stations don't have the reach of the SABC radio stations.

This is where the Media Development and Diversity Agency can play an important role. This year, the MDDA will transfer R34.4 million in state funds to community and small commercial media. And, in collaboration with the GCIS, will ensure that R30 million or 12% of all government adspend goes to supporting community media.

On the face of it, this appears to be a noble objective.

But the question is: can community media be truly independent if most of its funding - through advertising and grants - comes from the government?

When former GCIS CEO Jimmy Manyi centralised all government adspend in the GCIS, he threatened newspapers that he would pull government advertising if they did not toe the government line.

Mr Manyi's recent appointment to the MDDA Board is therefore an ominous development that should concern everybody who cares about the independence and sustainability of community media.

Chairperson, each entity in this Department is a cog in a powerful propaganda machine. Taken together, they give the Minister enormous influence over national television, radio and community media - either through direct control or dependency on state funding and government adspend.

Honourable Minister, you have asked us to engage constructively with you on the future of your Department. So let me propose seven steps you could take to immediately restore public confidence in your Department.

1. Go back to one converged Communications Department in line with global trends.
2. Move the GCIS away from the SABC and put in place clear guidelines to prevent the abuse of GCIS for political purposes.
3. Break the cycle of dependency that makes community media reliant on government handouts for survival.
4. Reject the proposed "happy news" quota and distance yourself from this talk of licencing journalists.
5. Allow the SABC Board to take steps to remove Hlaudi Motsoeneng from office. He is bad news for the SABC and bad news for South Africa.
6. Move to limit, not increase, political and ministerial influence over the appointment and removal of SABC Board Members.
7. Allow an independent SABC Board to appoint the COO, CEO and CFO without ministerial influence.

Chairperson, in conclusion, let me say that we support a government communication system that informs people of their rights, and the services they are entitled to. But we reject the creation of a propaganda machine obsessed with telling people "good stories" about government.

The jobless and the poverty-stricken are not interested in the government's "good stories". They want good governance, good service delivery and good jobs. And they want a government that spends its budget on fixing problems, not on trying to spin its way out of them.

We call on the Minister to dismantle this propaganda machine before it is too late.

Thank you.

Issued by the DA, July 15 2014

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