Times Of Swaziland: GOVT TO MAINTAIN STRONG GRIP ON SBIS

GOVT TO MAINTAIN STRONG GRIP ON SBIS
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 BY MUSA SIMELANE  on 19/08/2014 06:16:00


MBABANE – Government will continue to maintain a strong grip on SBIS radio for
fear of political opportunists.
This was made clear by Minister of Information, Communication and Technology
(ICT) Dumisani Ndlangamandla in response to calls to delink Swaziland
Broadcasting and Information Services (SBIS) and Swazi TV from government. He
said the mediums were there to serve, primarily, the interests of the State.
Members of Parliament (MPs), during the recent portfolio committee debates in
Parliament for the various government ministries, expressed to the minister the
need for the State mediums to be turned into public broadcasters.
Manzini North MP Jan Sithole, who raised this matter, said currently, the
mediums - which are the biggest in the country - are only operated the way the
State wanted. “They only cover news which the State wants covered and they are
not open to the public as they should, yet they are run with taxpayers’
money,” said Sithole.
The MP also raised concern about the silent censorship of politicians by the
State media, since no MP is ever interviewed or shown on TV.
However, Sithole was reminded that the House of Assembly, about three weeks ago,
resolved to form a committee which would work with the minister towards
regaining access to the mediums by politicians. “It’s hard to be silent
about it, though because it’s a burning issue,” said Sithole.
Matsanjeni MP Phila Buthelezi said SBIS Radio, for instance, was not primarily
for its listeners.
He clarified that it was disappointing that news which one would expect a
national radio station to run is not broadcast by the station. Buthelezi
wondered how the editing of news went on in the station. “It is not about the
substance of what is being said, but it’s about the person talking,” said
the MP.
Meanwhile, the minister was unambiguous in saying that State mediums cannot be
delinked from the State because it would be detrimental to the country.
He said indeed there were plans for a merger of the stations and they would, to
some extent, operate as a unit. He also highlighted that the option of turning
the stations into public broadcasters was something that would have to be
debated in parliament.
The non-accessibility of State media has been a talking point in the 10th
Parliament of late, as it is dawning on many new MPs the pain of not being able
to address their constituencies. They have to get someone to speak on their
behalf.
The Public Service Announcement (PSA) policy regulations were effected during
the Ninth Parliament to discourage MPs from campaigning on State media. It never
cut off access to the media per se, but it brought about red-tape processes that
must be fulfilled first.