The public pressure group SOS: Support Public Broadcasting Coalition (SOS) is Tuesday's surprise "special leave" which the SABC's head of news Phil Molefe was placed on by the public broadcaster's CEO Lulama Makhobo saying the SOS "notes with grave concern the latest developments at our public broadcaster".
The SOS says the move - as wellas the speculation around it - "is not healthy for our public broadcaster. It deepens the disillusionment around the institution and citizens' belief in its ability to play its public service broadcaster role."
The SOS Coalition is calling for public statements from "all stakeholders including all political parties, parliament, the minister of communications, the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) and the SABC itself (including management and the board) that they will fight to build a strong, transparent, independent, citizen-orientated SABC - and that in fighting for this vision they will fight to safeguard the SABC's independence from all vested interests be they political or commercial".
"Secondly, we need a commitment from parliament and Icasa to play their critical oversight roles and to thoroughly follow up on issues of good governance and accountability," says the SOS Coalition in a just-issued statement.
"We need Icasa to publically commit to constantly monitor our screens to ensure excellent, local, public service programming.It would also help if the Department of Communications ensures that the necessary resources are made available for Icasa to purchase and operationalise critical monitoring systems. This is long, long overdue."
The SOS Coalition says it doesn't want the minister of communications, Dina Pule, to inferfere with the SABC. "We do not believe that the minister of communications should be playing a hands-on, management role at the SABC, since that only serves to deepen the perception of political interference in the public broadcaster."
"While the ongoing instability at our public broadcaster encourages ministerial involvement, this should be limited and transparently done – and intended to empower the SABC board to govern the SABC as it is required to do. Ultimately however we believe that ministerial involvement pushes the SABC in a 'state' rather than a 'public' broadcaster direction and that this is not in the interests of citizens."
"We need a strong public statement from the SABC board and management around their vision for the news department including staffing of this department, their plans for the 24 hour news channel and programming plans for other new digital broadcasting channels."
"We need to know from the SABC board and management what their plans are to stabilise the SABC and to create a strong professional management team to ensure quality, local, public service programming on our screens. As regards this latest crisis, we need to be convinced that the placing of Phil Molefe on special leave - and creating yet another gap at the management level - is in fact in the best interests of the public broadcaster and all viewers and listeners."
