Zuma urged to launch probe into SABC

Democratic Alliance (DA) leader; Mmusi Maimane speaks to the community of Zandspruit informal settlements during his visit on April 27, 2016 in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Image by: Gallo Images / Sowetan / Antonio Muchave

Democratic Alliance leader Mmusi Maimane has called on President Jacob Zuma to establish a Commission of Inquiry into the "ongoing collapse" at the South Africa Broadcasting Corporation.
   "What is unfolding at the SABC is nothing short of full state capture of the public broadcaster under the ANC‚" he said On Wednesday."It was the Apartheid government that used these tactics in order to paint a 'good story' of South Africa – hiding the true state of affairs in the country from both the domestic and international audience."


Maimane called on Zuma to appoint the commission to probe an inability of the SABC Board to perform its duties in terms of the Broadcasting Act‚ the "unconstitutional editorial policies" being enforced by management‚ failure to act as a public broadcaster‚ the political capture of the SABC and deployment of Hlaudi Motsoengeng to the position of chief operations officer.

The request follows a series of scandals at the broadcaster‚ including the firing of journalists and a new editorial policy that blocked the screening of violent protests and Motsoeneng's almost R1-million salary increase – from R2.8 million to R3.7 million.

"Public outrage about the state of the public broadcaster has come from every sector of South African society: from the public at large; a broad array of civil society organisations including the Albert Luthuli‚ Helen Suzman‚ Thabo Mbeki‚ and Desmond and Leah Tutu Legacy Foundations among others; the SABC's own journalists; and even the African National Congress‚" said Maimane.