South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) CEO Dali Mpofu this week asked his top 20 managers to sign letters consenting to undergo polygraph tests in an effort to determine the source of the leaked internal audit report the Mail & Guardian was interdicted from publishing last week.
On Thursday, SABC spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago confirmed that Mpofu was investigating the leak, adding that he could provide no further details until the investigation was completed.
However, the M&G has learnt that Mpofu called a group executive meeting on Monday at which he expressed his disappointment at the fact that the report, which centres on the activities of [legal services head Mafika Sihlali], was leaked to the M&G.
It is understood that only four of the 20-odd managers present at the meeting had had access to the report, which was completed on July 3.
Two independent sources inside the corporation told the M&G that the managers were asked to sign letters of consent agreeing to participate in lie detector tests. Everyone was said to have signed.
The sources said that it was unclear whether the polygraph test threat was a tactic to flush out the culprit, or if the tests were still to be conducted.
One of the sources also alleged that SABC CCTV material has been scrutinised to smoke out the M&G‘s source.
The hunt for the source of the leak comes against the background of Kganyago’s assertion this week that the report had been stolen.
‘The report on which these stories are based is a proceed of theft against the SABC and no person or newspaper should use it for commercial gain. Those who do so are accomplices in this theft,†Kganyago said in a press statement.
Asked to explain the basis of his claim and whether a complaint of theft had been laid with the police, Kganyago said these matters formed part of Mpofu’s investigation.
SABC staffers who spoke to the M&G this week remarked on the contrast between top management’s tardiness in acting on the report’s findings and the swift and determined moves to establish the source of the leak.
The president of the Broadcasting, Electronic, Media and Allied Workers’ Union (Bemawu), Hannes du Buisson, lashed out at Mpofu for not suspending [Sihlali]. Bemawu is the biggest union in the SABC, representing about 1 000 employees.
‘That should have been the first thing to happen after prima facie evidence against [Sihlali] was placed before Mpofu. He should have suspended [Sihlali] pending the investigation,†Du Buisson said. ‘That’s what happens to other employees against whom much less serious allegations are made. {Sihlali} should have been charged by now.â€
He said the impression created by this absence of sanctions was that the SABC is ‘dragging its feet†and that the executive concerned was untouchable.
‘I’m convinced that there are people [in the SABC] who think that they are untouchable, but ultimately they are not. If the correct channels are followed, the public starts asking questions.â€
Added one of the M&G‘s sources: ‘The atmosphere at the SABC is not very conducive to dissenting voices at the moment.â€