Dear ANC, if you're serious about fixing the DoC, fire Muthambi

14 October 2015

The public spat between Communications Minister, Faith Muthambi, and Chair of the ANC’s subcommittee on Communications, Jackson Mthembu, reveals that the ANC appears to be more angered by Muthambi contradicting the party publicly than it is about her failures as a Minister.

If the ANC is serious about holding Muthambi to account, and steering the Department of Communications and the SABC to calm waters, it will put pressure on President Zuma to fire Muthambi.

It is not enough to call Muthambi out for publicly defying the ANC, she must be held to account for her failures.

Under Minister Muthambi’s watch:

-The Memorandum of Incorporation (MOI) signed by Minister Muthambi in September last year, replaces the SABC Articles of Association signed in 2011. The new MOI gives Motsoeneng and Muthambi control over the SABC, with the Board reduced to a rubber stamp; 

-South Africa missed the deadline for Digital Migration;

-Hlaudi Motsoeneng was appointed as permanent Chief Operations Officer (COO) by Muthambi in defiance of the Public Protector, and without following due process; 

-Remedial action ordered by the Public Protector and Supreme Court of Appeals to suspend Hlaudi Motsoeneng and institute disciplinary action has not been yet implemented;

-The Department of Communications spent almost R600 000 on a nine-day trip to a luxury goods show and folk art festival in the US; and

-She has even dismissed board members unlawfully.

Muthambi has been the weakest link for far too long.

As a result, the Department of Communications and the SABC has lurched from crisis to crisis.

It’s time for President Zuma to tell Minister Muthambi: ‘you’re fired’

Statement issued by Phumzile Van Damme MP, DA National Spokesperson, 14 October 2015