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IBA: Which way to balanced broadcasting?
by Adri Saayman and Markus Hill
The Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) is South Africa’s first non-governmental agency to regulate the airwaves. Two years after its inception, people in the industry are becoming critical of the organisation's performance. But what has the Authority achieved so far, and where is it heading for? And perhaps more importantly, where should it be going?
"The IBA is set to change the face of the industry, removing broadcasting regulation from the political sphere and freeing the airwaves for new, commercial and community stations. I cannot stress enough what a watershed moment the birth of the IBA represents."
This was the sentiment of Stan Katz, the Managing Director of Radio 702, expressed in May 1994. It reflected the enthusiasm in media circles shortly after the establishment of the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA).
Many considered the IBA an important part of the transition from an apartheid to a post-apartheid society. It was to end the inequity of the airwaves caused by the apartheid years’ skewed funding and state control.
Two years later, it is time to reflect on whether the IBA has succeeded in ushering in a new era in South African broadcasting as it was expected to. Some of the optimism surrounding the IBA has died down due to allegations of ineptness.
Established in 1994, the IBA is there to ensure that "all South Africans receive the fairest and best possible broadcast services, free of undue bias and protected from government interference. In terms of the Act, the organisation’s primary function is to promote the development of public, private and community broadcasting services which are responsive to the needs of the public." This is according to the official online Guide to South Africa (http://www.southafrica.net/).
The IBA, which took over from the Minister of Home Affairs and the Postmaster General, remains financially dependent on the government. According to their homepage, the IBA’s task is to: license broadcasters; formulate broadcast policy; plan the broadcast frequency spectrum; receive, hear and adjudicate complaints; as well as to regulate the broadcasting industry as a whole.
The IBA has met with criticism from various sources and on various issues. In June 1995, the Mail & Guardian reported the grievances of organisations trying to set up radio stations aimed at black communities. Lumko Mtindwe, co-ordinator of the National Community Radio Forum, said black community broadcasters felt sidelined. They mainly objected to the number of licences granted to religious stations and those devoted to Afrikaner culture. They felt the IBA had a "statutory obligation to provide broadcasting opportunities to historically disadvantaged...communities", which it did not meet. But IBA councillor John Matisonn, denied this: "The Act tells us to ensure that historically disadvantaged people are brought into the process - and that has happened."
The SABC launched its new-look channels amid great fanfare early in February this year. The IBA objected to the SABC’s proposal. It was incomplete; clumsily written; riddled with errors. Moreover, its proposed reshuffling of channels constituted a violation of the conditions under which their licence had originally been granted. Nonetheless the make-over continued. The IBA’s inability to halt the SABC’s plans, left a question mark over the organisation’s authority.
But according to Amos Vilikazi, head of department: communications for the IBA, "there has never been a dispute with the SABC. The media inflated public sentiment and elevated differences in interpretation of a legal situation to the level of a dispute."
The IBA could ill afford more accusations of ineptness when a furore broke out early this year over allegations that senior officials were on the gravy train. The luxurious office buildings were just the tip of the iceberg. There were also the bills for officials staying at a leading Johannesburg hotel because they were "afraid to drive home" late at night, and the weekends away because it was too noisy to work at home. The public found these excuses just too flimsy to justify the exorbitant bills.
IBA councillors’ high salary packages also came under close scrutiny. According to press reports, chairpersons earn approximately R411 520, and councillors R320 000 a year. The IBA, however, defended their position, saying they are on par with remuneration packages in the civil service.
"The real problem with the IBA is two-fold: slowness and heavy-handedness in creating an open, competitive broadcast atmosphere; and a failure to assert their authority," says Anton Harber, editor of the Mail & Guardian. "Allegations such as 'gravy training' have stuck largely because there are too few tangible benefits to have come out of the money they have spent. Certainly, they have a lavish style - but this would matter much less if they had opened up the airways and given us better broadcasting."
How you judge the IBA’s performance depends greatly on what measures you use. According to Amos Vilikazi, the Authority considers itself to have been successful in the following ways:
1) When the Authority came into existence in 1994, there was no broadcasting policy in South Africa. This has since been established;
2) Eighty-two community radio licences have already been granted and have largely empowered people from previously disadvantaged groups;
3) Opportunities have been created for eight new private radio stations and eight others which are being sold from current public broadcasters;
4) Opportunities have been created for new signal distribution entities to enter the previously closed market.
Establishing the IBA was indeed a watershed moment in South African broadcasting history. It represents the country’s first independent broadcast regulator. In testing previously uncharted waters, the organisation has met with many difficulties. Necessary skills must be developed. The process of public consultation takes time, money and manpower.
Vilikazi says there are two problems: firstly South Africans want to see results NOW; secondly, technology is changing and evolving, and regulators have to change with them.
Two years on, Stan Katz is no longer as optimistic about the IBA. He is articulate about what the industry needs. "What we need is a strong regulatory body supported by a strong industry, and this is our concern at the moment. We need to ensure that the broadcasting industry remains strong, vibrant and economically viable and does not become the field of over-regulation."
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