Malatsi says SABC Bill will be reintroduced once concerns are addressed

JOHANNESBURG – The Communications and Digital Technologies Minister, Solly Malatsi, says the SABC Bill will be reintroduced once a few concerns are addressed.
He said the bill in its current form doesn’t address some issues around funding and the minister’s powers.
Malatsi was responding to members of the portfolio committee who slammed him for not consulting them before he withdrew the legislation last week.
READ: Malatsi had no authority to withdraw SABC Bill – Ntshavheni
Explaining his decision, he said he had the best interests of the public broadcaster at heart and a key area of concern was the lack of a “clear and credible” financial model.
He said once some of these concerns are addressed, the bill will be reintroduced as soon as possible.
“Having identified issues of primary concern develop a commonly agreed timeline which in our view would be appropriate to lead to the reintroduction of the bill within the same financial year, ideally in the first half of the year given the urgency to find the solution to this.”
Meanwhile, the African National Congress (ANC)’s communications study group in Parliament said by withdrawing the bill, Malatsi was “essentially neglecting the time and over R20 million” spent on the entire legislative process including public hearings.