The SOS (Supporting Public Broadcasting Coalition, formerly known as the Save our SABC) has come out in full force on the controversial new Public Service Broadcasting Bill formulated by the Department of Communication. The SOS says the proposed legislation is ''premature'', needs ''a substantitive review process'', and says it contains ''constitutional problems''.
The SOS says it ''applauds'' the Department of Communications for ''trying to act swiftly in bringing about much-neede legislative reform'' and that the Bill has ''a number of positive elements which we certainly support''.
The SOS says that there's ''a number of Constitutional problems with the Bill'' and that it undermines the SABC's freedom of expression rights - especially in that the minister of communication should get to approve the SABC's editorial policies.
''Further, the Bill contravenes the Constitution’s requirement to 'ensure independent regulation of broadcasting by a single Regulator,'' says the SOS, basically meaning that the new Bill will impose itself on top of the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) through the department's ''scope of it powers''.
