ANC, Muthambi in digital migration row
Just days after its NGC, the ANC publicly slapped down the Communications Minister over her digital migration policy.
|||Communications Minister Faith Muthambi and the governing ANC have engaged in an extraordinary public row over her digital migration policy and the question of whether or not government sponsored set-top boxes should be capable of encryption.
Muthambi was publicly slapped down by the ANC after she issued a statement defying the party’s decision at its national general council (NGC) this weekend to discuss the possible reversal of her policy on digital migration.
Earlier in the day, Muthambi appeared to thumb her nose at her own party by saying in her statement her digital migration policy was “not up for reversal” and had not even been discussed in the commission and plenary session dealing with the matter at the NGC – directly contradicting comments by chairman of the ANC’s subcommittee on communications, Jackson Mthembu.
Mthembu said on Sunday the subcommittee would meet Muthambi urgently to discuss her policy, which might have to be reversed.
Muthambi’s statement, however, said it was “patently untrue”, as alleged by Mthembu, that she had failed to consult the party when she changed the digital migration policy to expressly exclude encryption capability for government STBs.
The ANC had been in favour of encryption to stimulate competition in the free-to-air television sector.
Vendors of high quality content require encryption to protect their programmes from piracy, meaning broadcasters unable to offer it are excluded from buying programmes most viewers want.
“It is imperative for the sub-committee chair Jackson Mthembu to clarify that when he spoke … he was expressing his own personal views,” Muthambi said.
Contestation over encryption has already resulted in the country missing an international deadline to switch to a digital terrestrial television signal, rendering television services, especially in border areas, vulnerable to signal interference.
Muthambi’s statement infuriated Luthuli House, which said in response she had “opted again to speak on ANC decisions unmandated” and, in the process, had “unfortunately” accused Mthembu of lying.
“We want to place on record that the issues of digital migration and (the) SABC were discussed extensively by the commission which resulted in the decisions that were taken,” ANC spokesman Zizi Kodwa said.
Muthambi is also on a collision course with the ANC over her approval of the appointment of SABC chief operating officer Hlaudi Motsoeneng, despite damning findings against him by the public protector, including that he lied about having matric in order to get a job at the broadcaster.
The governing party expressed concern at the “terrible instability at the SABC” and said there needed to be accountability.
Motsoeneng’s appointment is also the subject of an application by the DA in the Western Cape High Court, heard earlier today, to have it set aside on the basis it was irrational.
Political Bureau