1. Rubben Mohlaloga Chairperson
Briefing on Broadcasting Sector Compliance with Regulations 23 January 2018
Rubben Mohlaloga
Chairperson

2. Contents Compliance Mandate & Objectives Relevant Regulations
Broadcasting Landscape
Compliance operational activities
Annual Compliance Reporting
Individual Broadcasting Licensees Compliance
Class Broadcasting Licensees Compliance (Community broadcasting services)
Interventions to Assist Community BS Licensees
Moratorium
Distribution of Community Radio Stations

3. Compliance Mandate & Objectives
The Broadcasting Compliance Unit is responsible for monitoring of compliance for all Class and Individual Broadcasting Services (community, commercial & public broadcasting services)
Licensees must comply with:
Electronic Communications Act (ECA) and Broadcasting Act
Relevant regulations
Licence terms and conditions
Local content obligations for Broadcasting Services Licensees: Section 61(2) (a) local television content and section 61(2)(c) South African music of the ECA

4. Relevant Regulations
Standard Terms and Conditions for Individual and Class Licensees Regulations
Process and Procedure for Individual and Class Licensees Regulations
Compliance Procedure Manual Regulations
Universal Service and Access Fund Regulations
General Licence Fee Regulations
End-User and Subscriber Service Charter Regulations
Code of Conduct Regulations
South African Music Content Regulations
South African Television Content Regulations
Sports Broadcasting Service Regulations
National and Municipal Party Election Broadcast Regulations (during election periods)

5. Broadcasting Landscape
330 licensed Class and Individual Broadcasting Service (BS) Licensees, namely:
271 Community Sound Licensees (Class)
5 Community TV Licensees (Class)
9 Subscription TV Licensees (Individual)
4 Free to Air TV Licensees (e.tv, SABC1, SABC2 and SABC3) (Individual)
27 Commercial Sound Licensees (Individual)
15 Public Sound Licensees (Individual)
247 of these BS Licensees are currently operational

6. Compliance operational activities
Ongoing compliance monitoring of Broadcasting Licensees
Inspection visits at community broadcasting Licensees
Processing of notifications for change of Licensee information
Preparation of Annual Compliance reports for selected Licensees
Collection of annual licence fee and (Universal Service and Access Fund) USAF contributions
Referral of non-compliant Licensees to the Compliance and Complaints Committee (CCC) for adjudication (CCC findings are considered and decided on by Council)

7. Annual Compliance Reporting
The Broadcasting Compliance Unit endeavours to assist all Licensees to be compliant
However, due to the large numbers, it is impossible to annually report on the compliance of all Licensees
Compliance reporting is done retrospectively (i.e. 2016/2017 compliance is reported on in the 2017/2018 Financial Year (FY))
All Individual BS Licensees are reported on an annual basis
A number of Class BS Licensees are selected per FY to be reported
Individual Annual Compliance Reports are compiled for Broadcasting Services Licensees reported on per FY

8. Individual Licensees Compliance
Individual BS (Public and Commercial)
Licensees largely comply with all legislative, regulatory and licence requirements
However, there has been isolated instances of non-compliance with South African Music Content and licensees promises of performance
e-TV not fully compliant with the Digital Terrestrial Television Regulations (submission of the Agreement with the signal distributor and the tariff structure)

9. Class Broadcasting Licensees Compliance
Class BS (Community)
Licensees generally non-compliant as regards the following
Governance requirements:
Separation of Board and Management
Political interference (political office bearers)
Financial mismanagement
Commercial vs community interest
Holding of AGM’s and election of Board members
Community participation requirements
News and language quotas
Format (talk vs music)

10. Interventions to Assist Community Broadcasting Service Licensees
ICASA endeavours to support Community Broadcasting Licensees to comply through:
Conducting induction and compliance workshops for members of the Board and Management at the Licensees’ premises
Assigning a Compliance Officer to every Licensee (direct access to assistance)
Undertaking monitoring / regional inspection visits to Licensees
Attending AGM’s as observers
Mediating disputes between conflicting parties / stakeholders of licensees
Informing licensees of identified areas of non-compliance issues and proposing remedies
Revised Standard Terms and Conditions for Class Licensees Regulations published in March to include and clarify the Governance requirements for Community Licensees

11. Moratorium
ICASA imposed a moratorium on the issuing of new Class Sound broadcasting service licences in September 2015 due to:
Scarcity of analogue radio frequency spectrum
Licensing difficulties experienced (excess of licensees in the same district)
Insufficient clarity with regards to the licensing framework
Community Broadcasting Review commenced in 2016 to:
Assess the viability of community broadcasters (scarcity of financial resources)
Strengthen the licensing framework
Improve efficiency with respect to licensing
Improve compliance monitoring
Address loopholes with regards to Board and Management roles
The review will be followed by the publication of Community Broadcasting Regulations in the 2018/2019 FY

12. Distribution of Operational Community Radio Stations
All communities have a voice
Scope for growth of the sector
Source of local content
ICASA, MDDA and Sentech work together to support growth in the sector
WC: 38
FS: 18
GP: 51
MP: 26
NC: 9
NW: 23
LP: 38
KZN: 34
EC: 34

13. Thank you