SABC Bill referred to cabinet clearing house for processing
Communications Minister Solly Malatsi’s decision to withdraw the SABC Bill this week — which has sparked the latest in a series of tensions between the parties involved in the government of national unity (GNU) — has been referred to the cabinet clearing house for processing.
Malatsi’s pulling of the Bill ahead of its second reading in parliament has seen a fierce pushback from the ANC in parliament — and cabinet — as well as his predecessor and current deputy Mondli Gungubele, who tabled it in parliament.
But it does not appear to be part of a strategy by the Democratic Alliance (DA) to use its ministers in cabinet to torpedo inherited legislation it opposed before joining the unity government. A flurry of similar withdrawals across portfolios the party holds is therefore unlikely.
At the weekend Malatsi wrote to speaker Thoko Didiza saying that the Bill had “several flaws” and had been the subject of “much criticism” from a range of stakeholders over issues regarding financial sustainability, editorial independence and political interference at the public broadcaster.
“Having carefully considered stakeholder and public submissions on the bill, as well as consultation with key stakeholders in the media and civil society, it has become clear that the flaws within the bill necessitate its withdrawal,” Malatsi wrote.
“The withdrawal, rather than trying to fix a fundamentally flawed bill, will enable my department … to focus their efforts on formulating a sustainable and robots funding model for the SABC.”
The decision has been welcomed by civil society but triggered a fierce fightback from the ANC in parliament, which has threatened to bring a committee or private members bill if Malatsi does not bring a reworked version of the SABC bill back to parliament before the end of the financial year.
.ANC chief whip Mdumiseni Ntuli is also understood to have referred the matter to the cabinet clearing house, chaired by the deputy president and leader of government business, Paul Mashatile, for processing.
On Wednesday, the minister in the presidency, Khumbudzo Nthsavheni, told a post-cabinet media briefing that Malatsi did not have the powers to withdraw the bill because he had not sought cabinet approval before taking the decision.
“This is not a private member’s bill. This is not Minister Malatsi’s bill. This is a bill of cabinet. In terms of the law he cannot withdraw it without coming to cabinet for authorisation,” Ntshavheni said. “It was not discussed in cabinet and this is not his bill. We are very clear. The rules and the law are very clear.”
She said whatever issues Malatsi had with the bill should have been discussed at cabinet level — along with proposed amendments — rather than a unilateral withdrawal of a bill in progress. The matter would be dealt with by Mashatlle in his role as leader of government business at a cabinet level.
Asked whether Malatsi had taken the decision in consultation with the DA leadership and whether its other deployees to cabinet would be pulling other bills sponsored by their predecessors, the party’s federal chairperson, Helen Zille, said “there is a separation between party and state”.
Zille referred the Mail & Guardian to DA leader John Steenhuisen, who said that decisions on how to deal with bills before parliament would be taken by individual ministers.
“You will have to speak to individual ministers as we do not centralise the work of ministers in their individual departments,” Steenhuisen said.
“That being said, the DA, along with industry experts, fully supports Minister Malatsi’s decision to withdraw a flawed bill and to work to table an amended one that will lead to the sustainability of the SABC without impeding its independence as a public broadcaster.”
Steenhuisen, who is the agriculture minister, said that there were “no plans” to withdraw any bills that were tabled by his predecessor Didiza, and which are currently before parliament for processing.
Communications portfolio committee chairperson Khusela Diko said it viewed Malatsi’s decision as “ill-advised” and “trigger happy” and would call him to explain how he planned to ensure the SABC’s financial sustainability.
Should he fail to reintroduce the bill “timeously”, the committee would respond by tabling a private members or committee bill “in the best interests of the SABC”.
KwaZulu-Natal
In a sign that coalition tensions are not limited to national level, in KwaZulu-Natal, Premier Thami Ntuli on Sunday convened a meeting of party leaders from his government of provincial unity (GPU) to discuss several issues of contention.
These included the public and behind the scenes spats between cooperative governance and traditional affairs MEC Thulasizwe Buthelezi and the ANC leadership, which has accused him of using his position to undermine municipalities under its control.
Tensions have been exacerbated by a media briefing last week in which the ANC leadership in KwaZulu-Natal went on the offensive against the DA and the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP).
At the briefing, ANC chairperson Siboniso Duma attacked the DA for opposing a motion of no confidence that his party had brought to remove its own deployee, KwaDukuza mayor Lindile Nhaca, from office.
Sunday’s meeting is understood to have agreed to set up a committee consisting of Ntuli, ANC provincial secretary Bheki Mtolo and DA provincial chairperson Dean Macpherson to deal with issues between the parties.
DA KwaZulu-Natal leader Francois Rodgers welcomed the meeting, saying that it was essential that the leaders of the parties deal with the substantive issues that arose between them.
“The party believes that the ANC press conference held last week Monday to attack the DA and IFP was highly regrettable and does not instil confidence in the GPU. The DA is of the view that differences between the parties on issues of real substance should be dealt with between leaders.”
He said the DA provincial council had met recently and reaffirmed that it was “unavailable to assist the ANC in local government in KwaZulu-Natal until the ousting of Cilliers Brink is rectified”. Brink was removed as Tshwane mayor through a vote of no confidence brought in September by the ANC and supported by ActionSA.
“The DA cannot be asked to support ANC local governments while the same ANC brings down DA-led governments in other provinces,” Rodgers said.
He added that the DA “cannot, and will not work in a government that includes the EFF, which is not a member of the GPU or GNU, as is the case in eThekwini”, where EFF councillor Themba Mvubu was reappointed as chair of the city’s influential human settlements committee.
Mvubu had been stripped of the post several months ago, sparking speculation that the position would be offered to the DA as part of a political reconfiguration at city level by the ANC. But he was reinstated.
There is also bad blood between the ANC and the DA in eThekwini over the relations between their councillors.
A motion of no confidence in eThekwini speaker, Thabani Nyawose, is likely to be brought by the DA in coming weeks over his initial refusal to order an investigation into racist comments made against one of its councillors, Yogis Govender, in a meeting last week.
A councillor — alleged to be from the ANC — told Govender to “go back to Bombay” after her input in a debate about building a memorial to the 1860 settlers in the city.
Nyawose condemned the comment, but did not initially agree to investigate which councillor had made the racist remark, which triggered the DA decision to attempt to remove him from council.
The current mayor, Cyril Xaba, was elected with the tacit approval of the DA, which declined to field a candidate to stand against him during the vote to elect a replacement for Mxolisi Kaunda in July.
The ANC lost its majority in the city in the 2021 local government elections and has remained in power through a series of deals with the EFF.
It has lost further ground in subsequent by-elections and Nyawose is, at this point, vulnerable to removal should the motion go ahead given the ANC’s reduced numbers on the council floor.
“We are waiting to see the speaker’s report on the racist slur against one of our members. That will determine the way forward,” Rodgers said.
He said the DA was particularly concerned about the lack of financial and political stability in eThekwini, Msunduzi and KwaDukuza, which “seems to only be getting worse”.
The party was now gearing up for the local government elections and hoped to build on the progress it had made in May and to consolidate the successes of the GPU.
“The success of the DA in GPU has paid off handsomely in by-elections recently which saw us win all five wards we contested, including increasing our majority in all of them,” Rodgers said.
“We must immediately begin preparing for the local government elections in 2026.”