SOS: Ministry should not micromanage SABC

According to Kate Skinner, campaign coordinator of SOS, the group believes the following:

• To solve the crises at the SABC, there needs to be clarity in terms of roles, responsibility and lines of accountability in both governance structures at the SABC (board and management) and oversight structures (ministry and department, regulator and parliament)
  
• To ensure the overall viability and sustainability of the communications sector through the drafting of clear and comprehensive policy and legislation and ensuring adequate resources are available is the role of the department and ministry. In terms of the Public Finance Management Act, the SABC Board needs to report to the department on a quarterly basis as regards the corporation's finances. (Monthly management accounts should never go directly to the department.)
  
• Parliament then needs to interrogate the SABC rigorously in terms of its fulfilling of both its vision and mission (ie adherence to its Charter obligations) and finances. The SABC Board needs to present its corporate plans, financials and annual report. In terms of all content issues, the Regulator is responsible.
  
• The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa needs to ensure that the SABC adheres to its Charter and to its detailed license conditions. (The license conditions outline the SABC's local content and language requirements.)
  
• The SABC Board has a very critical role to play in terms of directly holding management to account. The board needs to outline the SABC's strategic vision in terms of programming and operational issues including human resource and financial policies.

SOS believes that it is not appropriate for the department to get involved in board sub-committees or human resource issues or monitoring of monthly management accounts and operational plans. These issues need to be overseen by the board and it needs to present management accounts to the department. This clarity of roles, responsibilities and lines of accountability will be one of the key ways of resolving the present crises.