Freedom of Expression Institute

07/11/2023

New media statement: Join SOS Coalition and

in their call for the withdrawal of the SABC Bill

Sign our petition here: https://awethu.amandla.mobi/petitions/withdraw-the-flawed-sabc-bill?just_launched=true

Read more on our website: https://soscoalition.org.za/join-the-sos-coalition-and-amandla-mobi-in-their-call-for-the-withdrawal-of-the-sabc-bill/

As South Africans, we love watching television to see shows and stories that are made for us and about us. The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) is our public broadcaster and many of us rely solely on the SABC for freely-accessible, quality news, information and entertainment. The SABC h...

24/03/2023

22/03/2023

Building a Movement to build solidarity and counter

16/03/2023

Analogue Switch Off to result in blank screens on 31 March

The Ministry of Communications and Digital Technologies confirmed the 31 March 2023 as the final date for the analogue signal to be switched off in South Africa’s remaining 4 provinces, Gauteng, KwaZulu Natal plus the Western and Eastern Cape. The analogue signal is already off in 5 provinces and households in those provinces need decoders, set-top boxes, and smart television sets to watch SABC television channels 1, 2 and 3 which are now only available via a digital signal.

The latest analogue-only television household data Television Audience Measurement Survey (TAMS) by the Broadcast Research Council (BRC) confirms that 4.7 million households, not individuals, rely on analogue television as their only source of television. This amounts to 33% of all South African television households.

Therefore, if the analogue signal is switched-off as planned on 31 March, the television screens of 33% of South African television households will go blank unless they have set-top boxes, decoders, and smart television sets.

The Constitutional Court was not convinced that all who needed government-subsidised set-top boxes were informed in time to register, that those who did register had working set-top boxes installed for them and for those who did not qualify for subsidised set-top boxes had them available for purchase at retail outlets. The Auditor General was unable to confirm that even reported subsidised set-top boxes had been installed.

Further, the SABC stands to lose significant audiences with migration from analogue to digital which will result in loss of advertising revenue. Other free-to-air television stations, including community ones, will also see loss of audiences and increased signal costs.

These are the reasons for submissions to the Communications and Digital Technologies Department to start the process afresh to inform the public, register persons who qualify for subsidised set-top boxes, install, and verify installation and avail set-to-boxes for purchase in retail shops for non-qualifying individuals.

If reason prevails and the process restarts, 33% of South African households and the individuals in them will reap the benefit of continued access to the public broadcaster’s information, entertainment, and educational content.

16/03/2023

Why the SABC urgently needs a board

The SABC has now been without a board since the 15 October 2022. The board is the highest decision-making body which exercises financial, policy and strategic oversight on the organisation. It also protects freedom of expression and journalistic, creative, and programming independence. A properly governed SABC ensures and safeguards the right of access to information for the public.

Without a board the SABC is run by the CEO, CFO and COO. Minister Ntshavheni designated the CEO to act as the board thus making him approve decisions he had made with the CFO and COO, a clear conflict of interest. Decisions that would normally have been made by a 15-member board with various expertise, skills and experiences would now be made by a single person.

The outgoing board had tasked executive managers with strategies and plans that were meant to be submitted to a new incoming board for review and approval. Those business plans remain unseen and unapproved 6 months later. The SABC financial year end is on 31 March and it will receive a new budget on 1 April 2023.

The SABC has a television audience of over 30 million and it’s 18 radio channels have a weekly listenership of more than 25 million. The SABC online and other platforms have added to its audience.

The SABC’s size and reach is crucial in its role and function of a public broadcaster in a democracy being responsible for informing, educating, and entertaining the public. It is for these reasons that political players seek to influence it and the more chaotic its state the more vulnerable it will be to external pressure and influence.

It is very important that the SABC be financially sustainable to enable it to properly fulfil its mandate as public broadcaster. One of the key responsibilities of the SABC board is to approve the business plans and spending as well as the 2023/2024 budget. Without these approvals the finances of the SABC finances are placed in jeopardy, negatively impacting on its financial sustainability.

It is for all these reasons that FXI calls on President Ramaphosa to urgently appoint 12 of the 15 individuals recommended by Parliament for whom there were no objections. Urgent appointment will ensure that the board starts its work and the SABC can be properly prepared ahead of anticipated closely contested elections in 2024.

01/03/2023

Rights groups urge the Moroccan authorities not to dispute the European Parliament's recommendations to uphold freedom of expression, but rather to act accordingly to free all unfairly-imprisoned journalists who are spending years in prison on false charges.

12/01/2023

Exciting News!!!

The Sibikwa Arts Academy enrolments for 2023 have been extended.

If you or your child want to be part of the exemplary Sibikwa Arts Academy, there are only a few spaces left for learners to register to attend this year, so do not delay!

Contact Vumile Qupe at [email protected] or 011 422 4359 for more information and registration forms.

Sibikwa, the spark that ignites creativity and excellence!

07/01/2023

GENEVA (06 January 2023) – UN experts said today that a sharp increase in the use of the racist “N” word on Twitter after its recent acquisition highlights the urgent need for a deeper level of accountability from social media corporations over the expression of hatred towards people of Africa...

04/12/2022

Online scams such as banking and credit card fraud are the most prevalent cyberthreat, says Interpol

02/11/2022

2 November : Marking International Day to for Crimes Against Journalists & 10 Anniversary of the UN Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists

19/10/2022

BLACK WEDNESDAY: LEST WE FORGET THE FAMILIES BEHIND JOURNALISTS

Ahead of Black Wednesday commemoration the Freedom of Expression Institute urges that the families of journalists to be remembered as well. Journalists are someone’s brother, sister, uncle, aunt, partner, spouse, grandmother, or grandfather.

On Black Wednesday in Apartheid South Africa families worried about arrest and banning of their loved ones for extended periods while today’s families are exposed to their family members being harassed, attacked by members of the public and the police, gender bullied by political parties, threatened with r**e of murder, trolled, stoned during service delivery protests, privately prosecuted, placed under surveillance probably including while with their families. The plethora of threats against journalists these days do not match the range journalists were exposed to 45 years ago but are no less stressful for families. When a Lesedi FM journalist goes to work in an SAB office in Bloemfontein in which an intruder once wrote on the wall “One day it will go boom” families members wonder whether an explosion may occur, and their family members may either not return from work alive or may return maimed.
Some of the journalists are breadwinners in their families and the fear and trepidation that ensues when they are threatened, intimidated, and attacked know no bounds.

Clarification and interviews: Samkelo Mokhine FXI Executive Director 072 294 0671