The organisation calls on unions, civil society, media workers and members of the public to join it in demanding an end to political interference in the public broadcaster.
2. We demand that the SABC’s illegally revised editorial policies be scrapped and all journalists suspended under SABC COO Hlaudi Motsoeneng’s edict be reinstated with immediate effect
3. We demand the immediate reversal of all downward editorial decisions premised on the unlawfully revised editorial policy
4. We demand that Motsoeneng is sacked from the SABC, in keeping with the Public Protector’s recommendations and the Western Cape High Court’s judgment which found his appointment to be “irrational” and, therefore, unlawful in the first place
5. We demand that the lame duck and inquorate SABC Board that has enabled Motsoeneng’s reign of terror and patronage to be reconstituted on an urgent basis
It is not only the public broadcaster – the news staple for millions of households across the country – that is at stake, but also the very freeness and fairness of the hotly contested up-coming elections. If the SABC’s mandate to inform the public is compromised, then doubt will be cast over the legitimacy of these elections. There can be no free and fair elections with a public broadcaster that is muzzled. The Zuma-Muthambi-Motsoeneng axis must be stopped. The SABC can expect further mass action until the organisation’s demands are met.
For updates, follow R2K on Twitter: @r2kcampaign.
Read about the interdict against SABC censorship here.
Read about the crowdsource campaign, 'Friends of the SABC journalists' here.
