/ 29 November 1996

Too many activities for Ivy

IVY MATSEPE-CASABURRI might want to ask herself whether she wants to be made premier of the Free State in the current circumstances – when she is getting the job because of the dismissal of a highly respected politician who won the post through the normal democratic procedures.

But, if she still does want the job, perhaps she should ask herself how she can make herself available for the job while she is chairman of the board of the SABC, a post which demands an unequivocal and demonstrable commitment to party-political neutrality.

Up to now, Casaburri has handled this issue honestly and openly. She is a proud member of the African National Congress, but she has shown balance and impartiality in her post. She has not been accused of favouring her own political party. There has been heated debate over whether the transformation of the SABC has been successful under her leadership, but she has won only respect for her aloofness from ANC politics.

This week, when it became clear she was keeping her options open on both jobs, she blew it. Once she was available for the post of premier, she should have been obliged to resign as SABC chief. It matters not whether she wins the battle for the job; by entering the party-political fray, she should have ruled herself out of the task of overseeing SABC’s transformation into an independent, non-party-political national broadcaster.

Consider, for example, the dilemma SABC staffers would have in covering the political battles of the Free State, knowing that their ultimate superior is part of that fight. How does an SABC reporter give reasonable assessments of the candidates for the premiership, and their records of performance?

Casaburri has, in the past few years, suspended her political activity for the sake of the national broadcaster; now, for the sake of the national broadcaster, she needs to suspend her broadcasting activity.