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ICT MINISTER TO REVERSE MPS BAN ON RADIO, TV

03/11/2022 08:58:00 Sabelo Majola

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MBABANE – Minister of ICT Princess Sikhanyiso has lamented the banning of MPs on local mainstream media, stating that it was not helping the country in any way.

In fact, the minister made an undertaking to reverse the ban which was implemented a few years ago, after Members of Parliament (MP) voiced out their dismay on the continued interdiction of programmes from Parliament debates and discussions in both TV and national radio. MP Marwick Khumalo submitted before the Minister of Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) Princess Sikhanyiso that both the Eswatini Broadcasting and Information Services (EBIS) and the Eswatini Television Authority (ESTVA) needed the support of the MPs in terms of approving the right budgets for their operations.

He made an example that not so long ago, the Minister of Finance Neal Rijkenberg wanted the approval of the MPs on a supplementary budget, where there was an allocation of E3 million for EBIS but the MPs put their foot down and demanded that the budget be increased to E12 million, which the ministry did. Khumalo said it boggled the mind then when the same entity wanted nothing to do with Parliament programmes on their airwaves, yet these programmes were listened to by the electorate, who wanted to know what the people they elected were doing in Parliament.

He said it was painful that the entity was counting on the persuasion of the legislators when it came to funding but they kept them banned from the airwaves, leaving one to wonder where they would get the funding from. “They are biting the hand that feeds them and depriving the electorate the chance to get to know what discussions and conclusions are made in Parliament, the airwaves belong to them as taxpayers. We sit in the Finance committee and in all honesty, the House of Assembly has the final say when it comes to budgetary matters and that is a fact, it’s in law.

Scratch

“Where are they going to get the funding from if they keep up with this? You scratch my back, I scratch yours,” he submitted. Khumalo was supported by Gilgal MP Sandla Fakudze, who also shared the same sentiments while also enquiring if there was any gazette or any legal instrument that was used in communicating such or it was just an overnight decision. In the same breath, Khumalo said the radio station was giving entities free time on its airwaves in the form of programmes which they did not pay for. He said it was astonishing that the same entities were buying space for advertising in the print media but failing to pay for the time they utilised on national radio, through their programmes. He made an example about city councils across the country that were paying for space in print media for their programmes but failing to pay for same on national radio, yet they are well-funded through various revenue streams like rates, parking services and a lot more.

“Next thing we get complaints from them that they are underfunded and some operations are compromised but they allow these entities to rob them in broad daylight,” he said. The minister admitted that indeed there was someone who made the decision and communicated such to the two entities that they should ban any programmes from Parliament, be it on radio or on TV and that was even before she arrived in office as minister. She said when she enquired about that decision and how it was benefitting the country, she was told that government communication was not under the ministry of ICT but was under ‘a department’ where such decisions were made. “This is not a new issue but we wish to reverse it, especially now in the digital era where the mainstream media is not in charge of the narrative and we know that who controls the narrative controls the people. We are simply depriving ourselves,” she said.

The minister said she was glad the matter had been brought to her attention and she stated that there was no better ministry to deal with it other than ICT. Meanwhile, both state-owned entities were challenged to improve their content because currently, their content was irrelevant, among other concerns. MP Khumalo even mentioned that ESTVA would remain underfunded if they did not work on improving their content.