Push to dissolve SABC board rejected
PARLIAMENT has refused to budge after civil society yesterday called for the dissolution of the SABC board for failing in its fiduciary duties.
This followed the latest scandal to rock the SABC – that its strongman Hlaudi Motsoeneng has been paid a bonus of R11.4 million for selling the archives of the public broadcaster. This excludes another R33m to be paid to him.
Yesterday, civil society called for Parliament to dissolve the SABC board for failing in its fiduciary duties and running the SABC into the ground.
Chairperson of the portfolio committee on communications, Humphrey Maxegwana, said members would not dissolve the SABC board at the whim of civil society.
The committee will ask the board to appear before MPs next month to address some of the issues in the public domain, including the R11.4m bonus to Motsoeneng. Once the SABC board has given the committee a report on all these matters, a decision will be taken, said Maxegwana.
But the SABC scandal has angered the Save Our SABC (SOS) coalition and Media Monitoring Africa.
SOS co-ordinator Sekoetlane Phamodi said yesterday that the situation at the SABC required political leadership.
“If we had a portfolio committee that was principled to ensure there was proper oversight, it would have established, even last month, an inquiry. The bonus was authorised by the subcommittee of the board, which is irregular and against the Public Finance Management Act,” he said.
Phamodi said they hoped the public protector would widen her investigation into Motsoeneng and include the latest payment of R11.4m.
The SABC sold its archives to Multichoice for R500m.
William Bird, of Media Monitoring Africa, said what was happening at the SABC was unacceptable.
“Fundamentally, everyone should be incredibly angry with the SABC board for the way they have behaved.
“We need to be holding Parliament’s portfolio committee on communications to account because if they had done their job, we wouldn’t be in this position,” he said.
“What needs to happen is that you need to get a new board, change parts of the Broadcasting Act. You need a portfolio committee that starts to do its job, you also need a regulator that starts to do its job.”
SABC spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago said issues involving the board would not be discussed. This was in reference to the bonus of R11.4m.
He also declined to comment on calls by civil society for the dissolution of the board.
“We cannot comment on that issue because the board is not appointed by the SABC,” he said.
Maxegwana said the committee would raise issues with the board when it appears before MPs on October 11.