Media

According to a report by Technology website, TechCentral, communications minister, Roy Padayachie, has withdrawn the controversial Public Service Broadcasting Bill which among other things, proposed a one percent tax to fund the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC).

The website reports Padayachie as saying that he is convinced much more can yet be gained by engaging in further work before a bill is presented to cabinet.

South African journalists have launched a campaign to fight what they say is an attempt to curtail media freedoms in a nation known for one of Africa's freest and most open Constitutions.

In a declaration published in all main Sunday newspapers, the South African National Editors' Forum says media restrictions proposed by the African National Congress threaten free expression that is the ‘lifeblood’ of the country's democracy since the end of apartheid-era rule in 1994.

The Press Council of South Africa takes issue with a call by the African National Congress (ANC) and the South African Communist Party (SACP) for a statutory media appeals tribunal.

In a press statement, the Council’s chairperson, Raymond Louw, points out that imposing of such a tribunal on the press has nothing to do with promoting press freedom but everything to do with the way the press reports on the conduct of governance, including the conduct of Cabinet ministers and other senior officials of the ANC.