Get best brains to avoid what SABC has been through – Mthembu

The best way of avoiding what the SABC has been through is by getting the best brains, Jackson Mthembu said today.

He said the same should apply to other state-owned enterprises. Mthembu said community media support has also troubled delegates.

“We only give them start-ups and leave them without going back to see how they continue. Some community media have been captured by some big companies because they have not been able to sustain themselves because of our inability to give them further support,” Mthembu said.

Regarding the BLF Mthembu said they will not agree with them when they go to people’s houses – in particular journalists’ homes – to threaten them.

“Where we disagree with you on what you write, we will go to the Ombudsman but we will always protect your media rights,” Mthembu said.

Putting ANC members through political communications training has also been one of the recommendations that were brought forward during the party’s national policy conference.

Addressing members of the media on discussions around communication, Jackson Mthembu said another important issue that was raised was that the ANC exist because of the people of South Africa.

“Everything that we communicate must be premised on decisions that resonate with our communities.

“Our message seems to concentrate on our internal weakness… We must deal with the issues of factions and disunity with speed so that we can begin to drive the message through to our communities,” he said.

Mthembu stressed the ANC has never been about itself but about the people. “Unfortunately the narrative at the moment is about our subjective weaknesses, but we have to move with speed to deal with those issues,” he said.