PUBLIC BROADCASTING IN AFRICA SERIES SOUTH AFRICA A SURVEY Africa Governance Monitoring and Advocacy Project (AfriMAP) Open Society Foundation for South Africa (OSF-SA) Open Society Institute Media Program (OSIMP) AN OPEN SOCIETY INSTITUTE NETWORK PUBLICATION Copyright © 2010, Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form, or by any means, without the prior permission of the publisher. Written by: Libby Lloyd (researcher up to June 2009), Prof Jane Duncan (researcher from September 2009), Jeanette Minnie (regional editor) and Hendrik Bussiek (editor-in-chief) Published by: Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa ISBN: For more information contact: ii CONTENTS Acronyms v Foreword vii Introduction viii 1 Country Facts 1 1 Government 2 2 Economic and social development 6 3 Main challenges 10 4 The media landscape 16 5 Brief history of broadcasting 22 2 Media Legislation and Regulation 29 1 International, continental and regional standards 29 2 The Constitution of South Africa 33 3 General media laws and regulations 35 4 Other laws that impact on media and freedom of expression 39 5 Case law and judgements 43 6 Conclusions and recommendations 46 3 The Broadcasting Landscape 51 1 The public broadcaster 51 2 Commercial broadcasters 52 3 Limitations on media ownership 56 4 Community broadcasting 57 5 Audiences of all three sectors 60 6 Accessibility of broadcasting services 61 7 Technical standards 64 8 Conclusions and recommendations 65 4 Digital Migration 69 1 Policy 69 2 Signal distribution 73 3 Impact on broadcasters 73 4 Impact on consumers 75 5 Convergence 77 6 Competition and the broadcasting environment 79 7 Conclusions and recommendations 80 5 Broadcasting Legislation and Regulation 83 1 Legislation 83 2 The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa 87 3 Licensing of broadcasters 95 iii 4 Complaints procedures 100 5 Conclusions and recommendations 104 6 The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) 107 1 Legislation 108 2 Definition of public broadcasting 110 3 The legal status of the SABC 113 4 The Board 118 5 Profile of the SABC 128 6 Organisation 132 7 Conclusions and recommendations 138 7 Funding of the South African Broadcasting Corporation 141 1 Overview 142 2 Sources of funding 147 3 Expenditure 158 4 Conclusions and recommendations 162 8 Programming 169 1 Types of formats on SABC stations 170 2 Programming/editorial policies and guidelines of the SABC 173 3 Types of programmes on other broadcasters 177 4 Analysis of programmes 180 5 Audience research 184 6 Feedback and complaints procedures 186 7 Conclusions and recommendations 187 9 Perceptions of and Expectations towards the SABC 191 1 Political parties 191 2 Civil society 193 3 Employees of the SABC 197 4 Conclusions and recommendations 198 10 Broadcasting Reform Efforts 201 1 Previous and current broadcasting reform efforts 201 2 Public Services Broadcasting Bill 205 3 Future of public broadcasting 210 4 Conclusions and recommendations 212 11 Overall Conclusions and Recommendations 215 iv Acronyms ACDP African Christian Democratic Party ACHPR African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights AMPS All Media Products Survey ANC African National Congress APRM African Peer Review Mechanism ASA Advertising Standards Authority AU African Union AZAPO Azanian People’s Organisation BBC British Broadcasting Corporation BCCSA Broadcasting Complaints Commission of South Africa BEE Black Economic Empowerment BEMAWU Broadcasting and Electronic Media Allied Workers Union CCC Complaints and Compliance Committee CIB Campaign for Independent Broadcasting COPE Congress of the People COSATU Congress of South African Trade Unions CWU Communications Workers Union CWUSA Creative Workers Union of South Africa DA Democratic Alliance DFA Documentary Filmmakers Association DSTV Digital Satellite Television DTT Digital Terrestrial Television DMWG Digital Migration Working Group EC Act Electronic Communications Act ECNS Electronic Communications Network Operators FEDUSA Federation of Unions of South Africa FXI Freedom of Expression Institute GEAR Growth, Employment and Redistribution Strategy HSRC Human Sciences Research Council IBA Independent Broadcasting Authority ICASA Independent Communications Authority of South Africa ID Independent Democrats IDASA Institute for Democracy in South Africa IEC Independent Electoral Commission IFP Inkatha Freedom Party IPO Independent Producers Organisation IPTV Internet Protocol Television Service ITU International Telecommunications Union LSM Living Standards Measurement MISA Media Institute of Southern Africa MMA Media Monitoring Africa MDDA Media Development and Diversity Agency NAB National Association of Broadcasters of South Africa NCOP National Council of Provinces NCRF National Community Radio Forum v NDPP National Directorate of Public Prosecutions NUMSA National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa OAU Organisation of African Unity ODAC Open Democracy Advice Centre OSF-SA Open Society Foundation for South Africa PAIA Promotion of Access to Information Act PFMA Public Finance Management Act RDP Reconstruction and Development Programme SAARF South African Advertising Research Foundation SABC South African Broadcasting Corporation SACP South African Communist Party SADC Southern African Development Community SAHRC South African Human Rights Commission SANEF South African National Editors Forum SAPA South African Press Agency SARS South African Revenue Service SASFED South African Screen Federation SATRA South African Telecommunications Regulatory Authority SOS Save the SABC Coalition Stats SA Statistics South Africa STB Set Top Box TVIEC Television Industry Emergency Coalition UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation USAASA Universal Service and Access Agency of South Africa USAF Universal Service and Access Fund WGSA Writers Guild of South Africa vi Foreword This report is the result of research that started in 2008 with the aim of collecting, collating and writing up information about regulation, ownership, access, performance as well as prospects for public broadcast reform in Africa. The South Africa report is part of an eleven- country survey of African broadcast media. The main reason for conducting the research is to contribute to Africa’s democratic consolidation. Many African countries have made significant gains in building democratic systems of governance that are based on popular control of decision making and in which citizens are treated as equals. Availability and access to information by a greater number of citizens is a critical part of a functioning democracy and a country’s development. The role of a public broadcaster as a vehicle through which objective information and diverse perspectives are transmitted into the public domain cannot be overstated. A number of countries are currently undertaking public broadcast media reforms that aim to improve service delivery and accountability to citizens. Such reforms draw from evolving African and global standards regarding media and broadcast media in particular. The survey instrument that was developed in consultation with African media experts and others from other parts of the world is largely based on agreements, conventions, charters and declarations regarding media that have been developed at regional and continental levels in Africa. The survey of broadcast media in Africa was initiated by two projects of the Open Society Institute (OSI), the Africa Governance Monitoring and Advocacy Project (AfriMAP) and the Open Society Institute Media Program, working with the African members of the Soros foundation network – in South Africa, the Open Society Foundation for South Africa. The bulk of the report was researched and written by Libby Lloyd, a media and broadcasting consultant based in Johannesburg. When she was appointed as a member of an interim board of the South African Broadcasting Corporation in July 2009 she handed over to Jane Duncan, professor of Media and Information Society at Rhodes University Grahamstown, South Africa, in order to avoid any conflict of interest, actual or perceived. The report was co- edited by Jeanette Minnie, an international freedom of expression and media consultant, and the editor-in-chief of the project, Hendrik Bussiek, a media consultant with extensive broadcasting experience in Africa and globally. It is our hope that the research will clear some of the misconceptions about public broadcasters. In its simplest definition a “public broadcasting service” is a broadcaster that serves the public as a whole and is accountable to the public as a whole. Yet in most instances what is referred to as a public broadcaster is in fact a state broadcaster: this research aims to help the process of aiding the transformation of Africa’s public broadcasters into media worthy of the name. Ozias Tungwarara Director, AfriMAP vii Introduction The survey on public broadcasting in Africa starts from the premise that development and democracy cannot thrive without open and free public space where all issues concerning people’s lives can be aired and debated and which gives them room and opportunity to participate in decision making. Nobel Prize laureate Amartya Sen describes democracy as “governance by dialogue” and broadcasters are ideally placed to facilitate this dialogue by providing the space for it – if their services are accessible, independent, credible and open to the full spectrum