Hon. Deputy Speaker,
The ACDP notes and understands that the MDDA is a statutory development agency, established in 2003 as a partnership between the South African Government and the commercial print and broadcasting sectors. Its mandate is to help create an enabling environment for media development and diversity that is conducive to public discourse and which reflects the needs and aspirations of all South Africans, to redress exclusion and marginalisation of disadvantaged communities and persons from access to the media and the media industry; and to promote media development and diversity by providing support primarily to community and small commercial media projects.
The ACDP welcomes the transparent process undertaken in the appointment of Ms Malefane and Dr Scheepers and trust that the skills, experience and expertise they bring to the MDDA, will add value to the Board and strengthen the Agency’s work in promoting a diverse, vibrant, and sustainable community media sector across South Africa, and particularly in our rural areas.
The ACDP, as Kingdom builders, supports these appointments and the report.