Chairperson, in his proclamation of 15 July, the President confirmed that the Minister of Communications will be responsible for both the Government Communication and Information System, GCIS, and the SABC. This will give the Minister unprecedented power over the government's message and how it is disseminated.
The Minister has already announced that she wants to bypass this Parliament and give herself absolute power to hire and fire the SABC board. The Minister has also ignored the Public Protector's report, by approving the appointment of Hlaudi Motsoeneng as chief operating officer of the SABC. This is the man who wants 70% happy news and who thinks that journalists should be licensed. The DA supports a government communication system that informs people of their rights and the services available to them, but we reject the creation of a publicly funded propaganda machine, obsessed with telling people good stories about the governing party.
A total of 34% of South Africans are unemployed. Many more live in poverty. They are not interested in good stories. They want good governance, good service delivery, and good jobs. They want a government that spends its budget on fixing problems, not trying to spin its way out of them. The DA will not support this budget. [Applause.]