Mail & Guardian reporters
The three SABC executives named in a report alleging commissioning irregularities are: the SABC’s head of television, Molefe Mokgatle; the head of corporate communications, Thaninga Shope; and the control account finance manager, Prince Phaweni.
The report, compiled by the auditing company KPMG, has recommended that the three executives be suspended pending further investigations into their alleged role in irregularities concerning commissioning.
Impeccable sources from within the SABC have told the Mail & Guardian that the three officials have been notified about the KPMG report and have been asked to respond to the allegations against them.
This notification came after a meeting held on November 3 between SABC management and its board at which management was instructed to “act on the recommendations of the KPMG report”.
SABC group chief executive Reverend Hawu Mbatha has refused to divulge the names of the officials mentioned in the report, but has confirmed the November 3 meeting.
Mbatha said according to SABC internal procedure the auditors will pass the report to the managers who are implicated to allow them to respond. SABC management will then report to the board, and discuss the response from the implicated managers. Management has been given to the end of the month to report to the board.
The M&G’s sources say the KPMG report has been in Mbatha’s possession for weeks and he has been studying its interim findings and recommendations.
The report also criticises Mbatha’s management style and questions how the irregularities could have happened under his nose.
Mbatha said it will be up to the board to decide on appropriate action to be taken against the implicated individuals, and to “decide how to treat the report, whether to make it public or not”.
He said he was “not in a position to confirm or deny contents of the report, as procedure necessitates that only after the implicated individuals have responded to the report’s allegations and the board has made a final decision on the matter”, will he be able to comment.
Earlier this week, the parliamentary portfolio committee on communications extensively questioned SABC board chair Paulus Zulu about the report and, in particular, about the management of the broadcaster’s financial affairs.
Zulu cited the protection offered by the Labour Relations Act and the Bill of Rights as reasons for not publicly naming the officials implicated, saying it should only be “when the findings are findings” that those individuals can be named.
Zulu confirmed to Parliament that the forensic report was tabled at the board’s last meeting and indicated that after allegations against certain individuals have been verified, “the due process of law has to take place”.
Another board member attacked KPMG’s findings during the committee’s session, arguing against naming people because they were not interviewed during the course of the investigation.
Shope told the M&G that the report was completed about two weeks ago. Although she is part of SABC management, which discussed the report, she maintained this week that she had not seen it.
Phaweni said on Thursday that he is not even aware that a report on SABC commissioning practices exist, despite its wide coverage in the media this week. Despite numerous calls, Mokgatle, who controls a commissioning budget of R200- million, could not be reached for comment.
SABC representative Marj Murray said the people named in the report would have until the end of November to reply to questions raised in it. “Following this, due process will allow both the SABC and the individuals involved the opportunity to set the record straight.”
It is understood that KPMG’s audit focused on what appeared to be the “irregular” awarding of tenders, mainly to two companies, one of which produces numerous programmes for the SABC and another which markets its products.
Freedom of Expression Institute director Laura Pollecut said it is “very worrying that certain individuals have been named in the report and yet their names have not been made public. The SABC is a public broadcaster and should make the names public.”
Independent Broadcasting Authority chair Mandla Langa said he has not seen the report as the SABC has not yet submitted it to the authority.
Both the ministry and the department of communications said this week they had not yet received copies of the report, and were therefore not in a position to comment on its contents.