An SABC board meeting descended into chaos this week when it was discovered that SABC news chief Phil Molefe was given a formal contract after his appointment by the corporation’s chairman, Ben Ngubane, and chief executive, Solly Mokoetle, say board sources.
The contract is now proving a legal obstacle to removing him, they say.
The board declared Molefe’s May appointment invalid after Ngubane and Mokoetle failed to consult the other ten board members.
The Mail & Guardian was informed that the board tried unsuccessfully this week to restart the process of interviewing the four short-listed candidates for the news post, of whom Molefe was one.
Jimi Matthews, former head of SABC television news, was invited back to make a presentation to the board.
Ngubane told the M&G two of the candidates “had not pitched”. But insiders said Matthews refused to attend as he had learnt that Molefe had a contract. Matthews could not be reached for comment.
Ngubane declined to go into detail about the hitches in restarting the interview processes. “A problem might arise and this matter could land up in court,” he said.
Another short-listed candidate was Karima Brown, who has since accepted the post of deputy editor of the new national daily newspaper, the New Age.
“I was informed this week that they were reopening the process, but I said I was not available,” said Brown. “They said they were going to be doing a new series of interviews.”
The only two candidates available were Molefe and another senior SABC manager. But when it became evident that Molefe had a contract, the board decided to vote on whether to seek legal opinion on the vexed issue.
Most voted in favour, putting a halt to interview proceedings.
Molefe had been acting in the post for a year before the surprise announcement that he had been appointed head of news.
Relations between the board and Ngubane and Mokoetle are growing increasingly hostile, according to sources, and two of the board members apparently threatened to resign after the board meeting.
While the M&G was told that the board took a resolution to bring Mokoetle before a disciplinary hearing, Ngubane said he was unaware of this.
“We don’t get the minutes of the board meetings promptly,” he said. “So I will have to contact the company secretary to see if this happened without my knowing about it.”
Ngubane said later that he had established that no such resolution was taken. “The board did discuss the performance of the CEO, and there is some unhappiness around the issue,” he said.
Mokoetle said he had not been informed that he would face disciplinary proceedings.
“I don’t know of any problem like this, but if I did I wouldn’t discuss it,” he said.
The SABC situation was described as a “right royal mess” by a former board member, who said the government now had control over news.
The appointment of Mokoetle by the previous interim board, under Irene Charnley, had placed the current board in an untenable position, said the former member.
However, Mokoetle’s recent decision to give R1 000 bonuses to SABC staff does not appear to be one of the board’s major concerns.
“While it might not have been necessary to give a clerk behind the desk a bonus in the light of the current final crisis at the SABC, this is a lesser problem for the board, as staff worked extremely hard during the World Cup,” said an insider.
Ngubane said Mokoetle had been asked to prepare a report for the board on his awarding of the bonuses.
“People worked overtime for the World Cup and were given a few days off and compensated for their excellent work,” said Ngubane. “This was a management prerogative.”
He said the board would report back to shareholders on the problems arising from Molefe’s appointment.