POLITICS

Parliament adopts SABC report – Office of Chief Whip

ANC calls for an urgent appointment of Interim Board

Parliament adopts report of ad-hoc committee inquiry into SABC board

7 March 2017  

The Office of the ANC Chief Whip welcomes the National Assembly’s adoption of the report of the Ad-Hoc Committee on the inquiry into the fitness of the South African Broadcasting Commission (SABC) Board. This brings to finalisation an elaborate and transparent process led by the Ad-Hoc Committee.

We applaud the members of this committee in executing their duties with absolute distinction. This committee is an exceptional example of how members of parliament ought to execute their oversight functions without fear or favour. The inquiry took place in the full glare of the public with maximum fairness and transparency. We equally appreciate the work of the support staff deployed to this committee who went above and beyond their call of duty to ensure that the inquiry meets its deadlines.

The inquiry was instituted on 3 November 2016 per a resolution of the National Assembly. The committee was charged with inquiring the ability of the SABC Board to discharge its duties as prescribed in the Broadcasting Act; the SABCs financial status and sustainability; and human related matters such as governance structures among other terms of reference.

The ANC welcomes all recommendations as adopted by the National Assembly and further calls for an urgent appointment of the Interim Board as there is currently no accounting authority in the SABC. We want to encourage the Portfolio Committee on Communications to act with the necessary speed in appointing the Interim Board to ensure that the recommendations of the Ad-Hoc Committee are implemented.      

The Interim Board, once appointed should restore stability by taking decisive action against those SABC executives who failed to execute their fiduciary duties, who flouted the rules and who threatened and manipulated the thousands of good people working at the SABC. The Interim Board must also ensure that a forensic investigation is conducted in order for those who are found to have collapsed the SABC to be held to account.

The work done by this Ad-Hoc Committee reasserts parliaments role of oversight and accountability. This good example will be norm moving forward to ensure that the SABC operates in the public interest and meets its mandate as a public broadcaster.

Issued by Nonceba Mhlauli, Media Liaison Officer, Office of the ANC Chief Whip, 7 March 2017