/ 13 August 2010

Ngubane digs in heels

Ngubane Digs In Heels

As SABC management chaos continued, with high-profile resignations this week, board chairperson Ben Ngubane has claimed he received legal opinion that he was within his rights to make the controversial appointment of Phil Molefe as head of news on a five-year contract.

“The board can challenge me in court over this and I will defend it,” Ngubane told the Mail & Guardian, saying infighting on the board amounted to “exceptional circumstances” that warranted his action in appointing Molefe.

“The truth is the process of selecting someone for the position had broken down completely, so I had to take a decision in the interests of the organisation,” he said. “I didn’t want it to happen like this. But it was clear in my mind that Phil was tops, and he is still tops today.”

The board was “dysfunctional, and this will not help the SABC recover”, Ngubane said. “The sooner we come to terms with the reality that we have a dysfunctional board, the better it will be. We tried our best for as long as possible.” He said he was waiting to see a document apparently criticising him, reportedly sent by other board members to President Jacob Zuma, before deciding how to defend his position.

Business Day reported on Thursday that board members Barbara Masekela and Magatho Mello had resigned. After confirming these resignations, the M&G asked Ngubane if he, too, would call it a day. “I could probably [resign] if things go on like this,” he said. “But I didn’t come here expecting everything to be hunky dory. I came here to do my national service for my country.

“We are facing a serious issue of a going concern and funding revenues are not where they should be. Board members are destroying the brand of the SABC. During the World Cup, we built up the brand, and the board members are now trampling on this brand. Who is going to pay money to advertise on the SABC if the brand is being destroyed by the board in the newspapers every day?” he asked.

There would not be another government bailout for the SABC, he said, “so things have to change quickly”. No other candidate for head of news could have handled an annual news budget of about R540-million as Molefe was able to, Ngubane said.

Relations among board members had broken down after a meeting to discuss his appointment of Molefe, he said. “I was out there in the sticks [at a funeral in KwaZulu-Natal] and couldn’t be there,” he said. “A decision was taken to rescind Phil’s appointment and from this moment onwards, it was war.”

Ismail Vadi, the chairperson of the parliamentary communications committee, told the M&G he had conferred with all the political parties about the “apparent corporate governance crisis”. “They have all agreed that the SABC board should report to the committee on August 24,” he said. “We would like them to report on their turnaround strategy, their filling
of the post of head of news and the functionality of the board.”

A source who attends SABC board meetings said there was so much acrimony and so many threats to walk out of meetings that eventually “you just switch off and look at your watch”. The M&G has learnt that a parliamentary inquiry could be called to assess whether the board is functional. No other board members could be reached on Thursday for comment.

Ngubane did not attend this week’s special board meeting because he was on leave and had long-standing arrangements with family, he said.