A briefing by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) board to Parliament on Tuesday will take place behind closed doors because the long-awaited discussion could lead to litigation, a spokesperson for the legislature said.
The portfolio committee on communication will be briefed on the “functionality” of the SABC board and its turnaround strategy, as well as the appointment of CEO Solly Mokoetle, Yoliswa Landu said.
“The committee is cognisant that some of the issues that may be raised either relate to pending litigation or may lead to litigation,” Landu added.
Weekend newspapers reported that the board threatened last week to suspend Mokoetle. The board accused him of failing to present them with a strategy to turn around the SABC after years of infighting and financial woes.
The Mail & Guardian reported that the meeting with MPs also promised to turn into a showdown with SABC chairperson Ben Ngubane, whom the board accused of rubber-stamping Mokoetle’s contentious nomination of Phil Molefe as head of news at the public broadcaster.
The majority of board members have repeatedly stated in recent months that the appointment was null and void as the proper process was not followed.
The paper quoted SABC board members as challenging Ngubane’s ability to make a presentation to the parliamentary committee “because an irrevocable breakdown of trust exists between the chairperson and the other 11 non-executive directors and because the functionality of the board is a subject on which the committee wishes us to make an input”.
Submission
MPs are on Monday night expected to receive a submission by board members on several issues that have led to renewed strife at the SABC, within months after a new board and CEO took up their posts.
The submission was prepared by the majority of board members, and does not contain input from Ngubane.
In it, the board reportedly accuses Mokoetle of being in dereliction of duty for failing to produce a turnaround strategy for the public broadcaster eight months after he was appointed on the recommendation of the interim board.
The new board was appointed in mid-January, just weeks after Mokoetle began serving his five-year contract.
Tension between him and the board reached boiling point when Molefe was named. Board members said they feared that they may have a legal battle on their hands if they succeed in overturning the appointment because he could claim he was given an expectation of having the job.
The Communication Workers’ Union on Monday urged the committee to deal “decisively” with Ngubane and Mokoetle.
The Democratic Alliance objected to committee chairperson Ismail Vadi’s decision to hold most of the briefing in camera.
“There is no doubt that the chronic mismanagement of the state broadcaster, including the inability of the corporation to adequately manage its finances and the breakdown in the relationship between the board and the CEO Solly Mokoetle, need to be interrogated rigorously,” DA MP Niekie van den Berg said.
“Indeed, it is unclear why such a frank discussion cannot take place in front of the public.” — Sapa