The new SABC chief will be either Sentech head Sebiletso Mokone-Matabane or Altron executive Dali Mpofu, Afrikaans Sunday paper Rapport said on the weekend.
Without citing any sources, the newspaper said the shortlist of possible replacements for Peter Matlare had been narrowed to those two names and that the SABC board would have to choose between them.
The SABC has declined to either confirm or deny the report, but sources inside the organisation said pressure was building for a decision to be made. Matlare left at the end of March.
Outgoing Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA) chairman Mandla Langa was high on the list of potential candidates but declined to even take part in the selection process.
Mokone-Matabane has some experience in broadcasting but is not particularly highly regarded for her management skills. Sentech has not shown any surprising improvement under her leadership and, in fact, bungled the introduction of an internet service that first broke the Telkom monopoly. But she has worked closely with the Department of Communications (DoC) throughout the regime of communications minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri.
Mpofu is best known for chairing the team that drafted the empowerment charter for the technology and communications industry. He was praised for his mediation between highly antagonistic parties but equally blamed for allowing delays in the process. He is not particularly close to the DoC, which may count in his favour.
Other candidates for the post — SABC news head Snuki Zikalala, former politician Nat Kekana and SABC board member Thami Mazwai – seem to have dropped out of the running entirely.
Rapport made no mention of the troubles of new competitor Die Wêreld, which on Wednesday seemed unlikely to hit the streets. Die Wêreld itself made light of its financial problems, with only two very up-beat editorials on the matter, neither of which explained where it found the money to continue publishing.
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