Transcripts of the interview of SABC board member Cecil Msomi with Parliament’s portfolio committee on communications contradict his claim that he disclosed his interest in a communications company that did business with the public broadcaster.
Msomi’s interest in Singile Communications, of which he is the managing director, became an issue when the Mail & Guardian revealed two weeks ago that Msomi had personally arranged for the placing of a political advert on behalf of the African National Congress, using Singile as the booking agent. At the time Msomi denied there was any conflict of interest, either in terms of his being seen to have business dealings both with the SABC and the ANC while a serving board member, or in terms of the requirements of the Broadcasting Act. The Act specifies that no one may be appointed to the SABC board without prior disclosure of any direct or indirect financial interest in the telecommunications, broadcasting or print media.
Msomi told the M&G that he had disclosed his interest in Roundvest, which trades as Singile Communications, to the parliamentary panel that interviewed him. However, the transcript indicates he told the committee only that he was a ”media consultant”.
Both the SABC board and the communications committee have brushed aside this contradiction, claiming that Msomi was under no obligation to disclose his interest as it fell outside the definition set out in the Broadcasting Act. The board also brushed off concerns about Msomi’s involvement as an agent for ANC business transactions with the public broadcaster.
In a letter to the communications committee, SABC board chairperson Eddie Funde said the placement of the ANC advert ”was a normal transaction in the course of business by Singile Communications. Msomi did not gain any financial benefit from the SABC, nor did his position as the board member play any role. The sales and marketing division handled the advertisement as a normal transaction.”
As the booking agent, Singile would have earned commission from its client, the ANC.
Funde, on behalf of the board, also objected to the way in which the Inkatha Freedom Party’s representative on the communications committee, Suzanne Vos, had taken up the Msomi matter directly with the board. ”It is our view that she is not entitled to write directly to the board or management of the SABC. We view this as an attempt to influence the management and/or board for party political purposes.” He called on the committee to ”investigate Vos’s conduct”, a request rejected by the committee when it met last week.
Responding to Funde’s letter, Vos told the M&G: ”It is mind-boggling that the board put into writing that my ‘conduct’ should be investigated by Parliament — for writing letters to the board!
”Msomi, in his interview in Parliament, described himself as a ‘media consultant’. He did not intimate that he intended to enrich himself by using the SABC as a vehicle to gain commission by selling advertising via his public relations company … Msomi and the SABC board should know that he acted unethically. That they don’t is shameful.”