Governance and administrative disarray facing the SABC must be investigated

The South African Communist Party (SACP) calls for thoroughgoing investigations into the state of the SABC, our public broadcaster, which is clearly facing serious governance and administrative disarray. This must be dealt with now and for good!  

The SABC has suffered chronic governance and management issues which seem to be deepening rather than being resolved. In less than three months only, since 15 January, one member of its board resigned, and four other board members were removed from the SABC board.

Three of the board members, seemingly removed illegally, have reportedly since declared that they will either challenge those removals through the court and/or request the Parliamentary Communications Portfolio Committee to review the validity of those disputed removals. One of the board members, Ms Ellen Tshabalala, was removed lawfully for lying on her CV and claiming qualifications leading to her appointment which she permanently failed to prove that she had. 

To the SACP it seems there are three matters at the centre of some of the crises at the SABC:

The controversial appointment of Mr Hlaudi Motsoeneng who does not have a Grade 12 certificate and who allegedly lied about having one;

A commercial agreement between the SABC and private pay TV monopoly, MultiChoice which apparently involves collusive aspects and cedes or alienates important public broadcasting rights and assets from the SABC to MultiChoice;

Purging of board members who were not in support of the appointment and the MultiChoice agreement, including allegations of corruption surrounding this deal as well as violation of key aspects of corporate governance.

All of these issues must form part of the investigation that the SACP is calling for.

Statement issued by the SACP, March 29 2015

Click here to sign up to receive our free daily headline email newsletter