On Monday a number of civil society groups met to discuss upcoming protest plans against the SABC and COO Hlaudi Motsoeneng.

The meeting was led by Micah Reddy, media freedom and diversity organiser of the Right2Know Campaign and SOS’s Sekoetlane Phamodi.

“We are protesting against the illegally revised editorial policy which allows Hlaudi to run the SABC like a spaza shop,” Phamodi said.

The South African Communist Party will join the picket on Wednesday. Phamodi said that this shouldn’t be viewed as the campaign joining a political party, but rather as a political party coming out to support their campaign.

“The SABC is the lifeblood to the majority of people in South Africa,” he added.

Luthuli House protest

According to Reddy the SABC is being turned into “a state mouthpiece” that should be stopped.

A woman who claimed to be an employee at the SABC and asked that her name be withheld and that cameras not show her face, said employees were being intimidated by Motsoeneng.

During the meeting plans were put forward for three protest actions to be held this week.

On Wednesday a picket outside the SABC’s Auckland Park offices has been planned from 11:00 to 14:00.

On Thursday a protest is planned at Icasa at 08:00, while another is being planned to take place outside Luthuli House at 12:00 to demand the removal of Motsoeneng.

Discussions also included the possibility of targeting companies advertising on SABC channels.

Right2Know branches in the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal are set to hold similar meetings this week to discuss possible actions.

News24