Portfolio Committee moves forward with filling of SABC Board Vacancies

22 September 2015

Following the DA’s letter last week to Communications Portfolio Committee Chairperson, Joyce Moloi-Moropa, on the slow pace of filling SABC Board vacancies, the Committee today resolved to move forward with the re-advertisement of these posts.

This newfound urgency is a step in the right direction: the Board currently only has six members, which is three short of the quorum required to make legally binding decisions. The quicker we fill these vacancies with the right people, the better.

However, it is not all good news. 

The unlawful removal of Hope Zinde, Rachel Kalidass and Ronnie Lubisi has cast a dark shadow over the process of appointing new SABC Board Members. The fact is that many would-be applicants to the SABC Board will not apply for fear of being arbitrarily and unlawfully removed in the same manner.

This is precisely why the response to the previous advertisement was below par in terms of the quality and quantity of applicants. In February - before the unlawful removals - the Committee received 97 applications for one position on the Board. This compared with just 23 applications for two positions in May – a month after the illegal removals took place.

The manner in which Kalidass, Zinde and Lubisi were removed by the SABC Board – with the connivance of Minister Muthambi and ANC members of the Committee – will certainly deter capable and independently minded candidates from applying. 

The DA believes that only the best candidates should be considered for a position on the SABC Board. This is why, in the Portfolio Committee today, the DA attempted to propose that the Committee:

1. Urgently interview the five candidates already shortlisted to fill the vacancy created by Ellen Tshabalala’s resignation in December last year;

2. Urgently re-examine the lawfulness of the removal of Zinde, Kalidass and Lubisi in the light of new evidence, which shows that their letters of complaint to Moloi-Moropa were not tabled before the Portfolio Committee;

3. Reinstate Zinde, Kalidass and Lubisi if their removal was found to be unlawful; 

4. Re-advertise for the vacancies created by the resignation of Thembinkosi Bonakele and Bongani Khumalo.

Unfortunately, the ANC members of the Portfolio Committee – aided and abetted by Chairperson Moloi-Moropa – howled down the DA’s proposal today. Their conduct was nothing short of disgraceful. What a far cry from this time last year when the Portfolio Committee was roundly lauded for its non-partisan approach to the Ellen Tshabalala scandal.

Statement issued by Gavin Davis MP, DA Shadow Minister of Communications, 22 September 2015