COSATU alarmed at latest SABC allegations
The Congress of South African Trade Unions is deeply concerned at the allegation, reported in the City Press on 13thJuly 2014, that the SABC board chairperson, Comrade Zandile Ellen Tshabalala, lied to Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Communications by fabricating her CV to say that she holds a degree and a senior diploma from UNISA, which the university has reportedly denied to be true.
COSATU demands that the Minister of Communications immediately sets up an investigation into this serious allegation, and, if it is found to be true, to take immediate action to dismiss her from this important post at the head of our public broadcaster.
The federation fully agrees with the view of our affiliate, the Communication Workers Union (CWU), that "if found to be true, this misrepresentation will without doubt further tarnish the image and reputation of the public broadcaster which is of late in the habit of being in the news for the wrong reasons and will worsen the existing poor public image of the SABC, coming not so long after the PriceWaterhouseCoopers' skills audit which found that 60% of SABC executives did not meet the minimum requirements for strategic thinking and leadership in their work."
This latest scandal powerfully reinforces the point made by COSATU in a letter to Comrade Tshabalala on 24 June 2014 (See below) that "the SABC has been, and still is, plagued by seemingly intractable governance crises and financial problems at the level of the Board and management".
The CWU gets to the heart of the problem when it says that "the SABC board and its chairperson must be seen to be leading by example in the drive to extricate the institution from its current sorry state of affairs characterised by crisis after crisis which is brought about by sheer maladministration and lack of good governance".
COSATU further demands that the Minister reverses the decision taken by the board, under Comrade Tshabalala's leadership, to confirm the appointment of Comrade Hlaudi Motsoeneng as SABC Chief Operations Officer (COO).
This was decided despite the fact that the board has not yet responded to the serious allegations made by the Public Protector in her report "When governance and ethics fail" which implicated members of the board, executives of the SABC and senior management in maladministration and abuse of power.
The report specifically that the then-Acting COO of raising his salary from R1,5 million to R2,4 million over the course of one year, purging senior staff and misrepresenting his qualifications to the SABC, allegedly stating that he had passed matric, when he had not.
The Public Protector recommended that the SABC get rid of Motsoeneng and hire a replacement within 90 days, which they not only failed to do, but confirmed his permanent appointment.
COSATU repeats the call in the letter to the Chairperson that action must be taken against individuals who, according to the Public Protector, admitted to wrongdoing, and that all appointments that were made without advertising the positions be reversed and disciplinary action be taken against individuals responsible.
Statement issued by Patrick Craven, COSATU national spokesperson, July 16 2014
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