imprisonment, or both in an instance where there is a conviction. The Bill also collapses the functions of the editor-in-chief and the CEO into one, igniting concern of undermining editorial independence and making the SABC vulnerable to external influences and interference. While attempting to address a legitimate concerns, the regulations are fundamentally flawed. Their design is unconstitutional as there was no public participation in line with the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act. SANEF, SOS, MMA and CFE have expressed concern that the provision of a subscriptionbased model as part of the funding mechanism for the public broadcaster is at odds with the public service function of the SABC and limits the services to only those who can afford it. The FPB appears to have overreached its mandate by attempting to regulate online content, and in a joint article, SANEF, CFE, MMA, SOS Support Public Broadcasting Coalition and the Press Council argued that the vague and loose definitions for misinformation and disinformation were not only misaligned with emerging standards but also provided loopholes for abuse, silencing and censorship which would have a “chilling effect on free speech”. (10) Furthermore, there has been concern about the decision to rush implementation without creating the necessary regulatory framework on Audio and Audiovisual Media Services and Online Content Safety, which is about 13 years overdue. The SABC as a public service and public interest media is very important in the context of South Africa where most people still face information asymmetries amongst other entrenched inequalities. The media bodies requested that the regulations be withdrawn by 4 April, or they will pursue legal action. The South African government published the SABC Bill in 2021 and it is currently in Parliament for consideration. Public hearings through the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Communications and Digital Technologies have been postponed and will now be handed over to the next Parliament. Flawed approaches for governance like this not only pose a threat to the financial sustainability of SABC, but further reinforce some of the inequalities faced by South Africans today. In March 2024, the South African National Assembly passed the General Intelligence Laws Amendment Bill which has been sent to the National Council of Provinces for concurrence. Broadly defined, the Bill is meant: to repeal the Broadcasting Act, 1999; to regulate the continued existence of the South African Broadcasting Corporation SOC Ltd; to provide for its governance; to amend the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa Act, 2000, and the Electronic Communications Act, 2005; and to provide for matters connected therewith. The Bill, which makes amendments to the Intelligence Services Act, the National Strategic Intelligence Act and the Intelligence Service Oversight Act, seeks to address the shortcomings of the State Security Agency (SSA) after significant reform recommendations by the State Capture Commission as well as the high-level review panel led by Sydney Mufamadi, who established that the merging of the National Intelligence Agency and the South African Secret Services into SSA in 2009 by the then president Jacob Zuma was unconstitutional and was used as a parallel intelligence apparatus for the personal political interests of the former president and his allies. There are strong objections to the proposed Bill, and media organisations have called for its withdrawal. Among the criticisms is that the Bill does not adequately address the financial difficulties the public broadcaster has faced. Instead of a comprehensive funding model and plan, the Bill states that the Communications and Digital Technologies minister has up to three years to develop a funding model in consultation with the Finance minister. The Bill seeks to establish the South African Intelligence Agency, which will deal with domestic intelligence and counterintelligence gathering, a South African Intelligence Service for foreign intelligence functions, and a national academy for intelligence training. There are also concerns about government and political interference as the Communications and Digital Technologies minister would have veto powers over the subsidiary company’s board member appointments and remuneration. While the Bill is largely welcomed, the media has expressed concern about how bulk surveillance, even with safeguarding mechanisms such as the 73 STATE OF PRESS FREEDOM IN SOUTHERN AFRICA 2023