Journalists should have licences: acting SABC boss

03 July 2014 - 17:21 By Sapa
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SABC acting chief operations officer Hlaudi Motsoeneng has proposed that journalists have a licence to practice like those in the medical and law professions, the broadcaster reported on Thursday.

Motsoeneng said journalists who acted unprofessionally should be stripped of their licences.

"You know when you are a journalist, you are a professional journalist. If you don't have ethics and principles and you mislead on your reporting, like lawyers... if you commit any mistake they take your licence," he was quoted as saying.

"We should do the same thing with journalists, that is what we need to do if we want to build South Africa."

He was speaking at the annual Joburg Radio Days at Wits University in Johannesburg.

In February, Public Protector Thuli Madonsela released a report “When governance and ethics fail” which found Motsoeneng's appointment irregular. Among other things, his salary increased from R1.5 million to R2.4m in one year.

She found he misrepresented his qualifications, that he passed matric, to the SABC, and recommended he be replaced.

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