The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) board failed in a court bid on Monday to appeal against the reinstatement of chief executive Dali Mpofu.
The Johannesburg High Court dismissed an application for leave to appeal against an earlier ruling that the suspension of Mpofu was unlawful.
”The application for leave to appeal is dismissed with costs,” said Judge Moroa Tsoka.
”I’m on my way to work again. This is over until the next game,” Mpofu told reporters after the hearing.
”It is clear that this is no longer about the interests of the SABC — it is a personal vendetta. But I will fight it all the way. It is such a waste of resources and time,” he added.
Mpofu was suspended on May 7, a day after he suspended his news chief Snuki Zikalala, who was accused of leaking a memorandum on Mpofu’s alleged bad management of the SABC to the Sunday Times.
Mpofu challenged his suspension and the Johannesburg High Court ruled in his favour last month. The court ruled that the meeting where the suspension was decided did not follow the correct legal procedures, including giving reasonable notice of the board meeting to all relevant parties.
But the SABC board applied for leave to appeal against this ruling and also wanted Mpofu to remain suspended while the court heard its appeal.
Its lawyer, advocate Tim Bruinders, argued on Monday that the meeting was indeed lawful because all relevant parties were notified verbally about the meeting.
However, Tsoka ruled that the reason for his first ruling in favour of Mpofu stood, and that the SABC board had brought no new evidence to persuade him otherwise.
No reasonable notice in writing of the board meeting was given to all relevant parties and that was one of the reasons why it remained invalid.
Tsoka dismissed the appeal which means Mpofu’s suspension remains unlawful.
Mpofu is expected to make an announcement to the media about the SABC later on Monday.
In-fighting
The public broadcaster has been plagued by in-fighting in the past months. Internal politics intensified since the election of new African National Congress leaders at Polokwane in December, with management and board members reportedly aligned to different factions within the ruling party.
The communications portfolio committee has recommended to the National Assembly that a vote of no confidence be adopted against the SABC board. The National Assembly noted the report which stated that there were clear signs of a ”leadership breakdown in a state-owned entity”.
The board is of the opinion that Mpofu never had the authority to suspend Zikalala and that the latter’s suspension was unlawful.
Media reports have suggested that the board had planned to suspend Mpofu and appoint Zikalala in his position, and that this was the real reason why Mpofu suspended Zikalala. – Sapa