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There is an urgent need for a full and transparent investigation into how state capture could have affected the broadcasting and media sector in South Africa, according to the Right2Know Campaign (R2K).
The organisation describes itself as a coalition of people and organisations concerned with promoting openness and the free flow of information.
The group, in an open letter, has urged Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, chair of the judicial commission of inquiry into state capture, to investigate what it calls "evidence and allegations of state capture and associated corruption in South Africa's broadcasting sector".
In the letter Lazola Kati and Dale McKinley of R2K said the organisation aligned itself with a previous submission by the SOS Coalition and Media Monitoring Africa.
In September 2018 these two groups submitted a joint statement to evidence leaders in the commission requesting that it investigate the extent of state capture in the broadcasting sector.
In its open letter, R2K refers to what it calls "serious allegations in the public domain" allegedly relating to, among others MultiChoice, ANN7, the SABC, eTV, former Minister of Communications Faith Muthambi and the Department of Communications.
The group argued that the evidence "strongly suggests that various actors colluded to shape South Africa’s broadcasting policy and sector to their advantage".
In the view of R2K, this has severely affected "ordinary South Africans' access to affordable and quality public media and telecommunications".
It has asked that the commission conduct a "full and transparent investigation" into the SA broadcasting sector.
* Fin24 is part of Media24, which is a subsidiary of Naspers.
