Committee will consider call for MultiChoice probe
DA wants inquiry into state capture and former minister’s role after leaks point to suspicious payment to ANN7
Parliament’s portfolio committee on communications says it will consider the DA’s call for an inquiry into state capture and the role of former communications minster Faith Muthambi once the request has been formally tabled. Following weekend revelations that pay television operator MultiChoice, the owners of DStv and M-Net, made a suspicious payment of R25m to the Gupta-controlled ANN7 channel, DA MP and communications spokeswoman Phumzile van Damme said she would be writing to communications portfolio committee chairman Humphrey Maxegwana requesting that the inquiry be scheduled as the first item on the committee’s agenda in 2018. According to the Gupta leaks, MultiChoice also increased its annual payment to ANN7 from R50m to R141m. The payments are said to have occurred soon after the Gupta family had lobbied President Jacob Zuma to transfer certain broadcasting powers to Muthambi.
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