The SABC has taken Democratic Alliance election candidate Dianne Kohler-Barnard off the air. SABC spokesperson Paul Setsetse told the Mail & Guardian the corporation expected her to resign prior to the elections and might have to ”take appropriate steps” should she refuse.
Kohler-Barnard was suspended from presenting the SAfm Sunday news analysis programme, The Editors, when she appeared on the DA draft list and voluntarily resigned from the programme when the DA’s election list was officially finalised.
SABC management initially indicated she would be allowed to continue presenting other programmes that had no political content.
Kohler-Barnard presents a weekly tourism digest called Destinations, as well as a Saturday morning entertainment round-up and a light personality feature dubbed Out to Lunch. However, Destinations was not aired as usual on Wednesday this week.
Setsetse said Kohler-Barnard had been taken off air entirely as she had been nominated as an election candidate: ”In terms of our Charter, we cannot have staff actively involved in politics. We can’t have someone who is in a strategic position — in direct contact with our listenership — and who is an active member of a political party also doing programming and projecting themselves for their future as a candidate.
”Our charter says we must be seen to be objective and impartial and not be motivated by party political things in what we do.”
He said for Kohler-Barnard to continue to be a presenter of any kind would compromise the SABC’s integrity. He said she would remain an employee but not be allowed to do any programme until the issue of her candidacy was clarified.
SABC regulations state only that an employee may not hold political office.
Asked if the corporation would act against Kohler-Barnard if she failed to resign before the election, Setsetse initially indicated the SABC would not wait: ”We will take appropriate steps.” Later he said this would depend on factors such as if she intended to campaign actively.
Kohler-Barnard said she could not comment in terms of SABC rules prohibiting unauthorised comments to the media.
By contrast with its swift action on Kohler-Barnard, the SABC has so far maintained its position that there is no problem with board member Cecil Msomi and his company acting as agents to place advertising with the corporation on behalf of the African National Congress. Msomi’s actions were revealed in the M&G last week.
In an official SABC response, Setsetse said no one had yet showed how this constituted a conflict of interest.
However, Consol Tleane, head of research at the Freedom of Expression Institute, said the SABC was confusing what might not be illegal with what was ethical: ”There is a clear conflict of interest. A member of the board is explicitly seen to be promoting a particular political party.”
Kgaogelo Lekgoro who chairs the Parliament’s communications portfolio committee said it would investigate whether Msami had declared his interests prior to his appointment.
The Inkatha Freedom Party has written to board chairperson Eddie Funde requesting that the board institute an inquiry into the Msomi incident.