New SABC CEO should “regulate” Hlaudi

18 August 2015

Today, in the Communications Portfolio Committee, SABC Chief Operations Officer Hlaudi Motsoeneng called for journalists to be “regulated”.

Motsoeneng asserted that the Judiciary and Parliament are “regulated” and that it would therefore make sense to“regulate” journalists.

He added that even the Democratic Alliance is “regulated”, and went even further to assert that “all people” are “regulated”.

Motsoeneng’s comments today follow his statement at a New Age Business Briefing yesterday that “we need to change the mindset of journalists” who report on corruption.

This is the kind of nonsense that has made Hlaudi Motsoeneng and the SABC a laughing stock across South Africa.

If anybody needs to be “regulated”, it is Hlaudi Motsoeneng himself. 

It is time for Motsoeneng’s boss, newly appointed Chief Executive Officer Frans Matlala, to pull the plug on his Chief Operations Officer. Every time Hlaudi opens his mouth, he damages the credibility of our public broadcaster.

It is cause for concern that Hlaudi Motsoeneng appears to be dictating SABC editorial policy. This is particularly so in the light of the SABC missing the deadline to review its editorial policy by six years.

The SABC was supposed to have reviewed its editorial policy – with input from the public – by 2009. In a recent reply to a parliamentary question, the Minister conceded that the deadline had been missed due to “leadership instability.”

In the reply, the Minister promised to “complete the Editorial Policy review by the end of the first quarter of 2015.” Well, it is now August and a new Editorial Policy is conspicuous by its absence.

We call on the SABC Board and the new SABC CEO to expedite the review of the SABC’s Editorial Policy. Perhaps this will put a stop to the nonsense spouted by Hlaudi Motsoeneng.

Statement issued by Gavin Davis MP, DA Shadow Minister of Communications, August 18 2015