Clearly positioned to compete with e.tv's news channel, the public broadcaster's channel, Molefe told the committee, would "go a long way in ensuring that the SABC delivers on its mandate of educating and informing South Africans".

Though he did not disclose the exact figure the SABC is after, the cost is likely to be significant - the now defunct SABC News International last year cost about R60-million to keep on air.

But why launch a new channel when the broadcaster remains in disarray? Its finances are a mess, its programmes are lacklustre and it has yet to effect the promised substantial turnaround.

Last month, the same committee turned down a request for more funding after it was revealed that the SABC had applied for almost R7-billion from the Treasury for the next three years. This, despite the broadcaster's failure to meet the performance targets stipulated as a condition for the release of a R1.47-billion loan.

Committee members, clearly exasperated, described the SABC as being in "ICU".

"You cannot throw more money at an ailing organisation, you are not going to make it," COPE MP Juli Killian then said.

The SABC, since its "liberation" from the National Party in 1994 has been strangled by various political and financial crises. Successive communications ministers, boards and senior executives have been unable to bring stability to the SABC while government interference has crippled the malfunctioning broadcaster.

Throwing good money after bad will certainly not make the problem go away. The new channel sounds more like a vanity project than a sustainable business.