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The SABC headquarters in Auckland Park, Johannesburg. Picture: Cara Viereckl.

Parliament is moving ahead to fill the four vacancies on the SABC’s board, with its communications committee due to meet next week to draw up a shortlist of candidates.

Replacing SABC board deputy chairwoman Felleng Sekha, and non-executive members Barbara Masekela, Makgatho Mello and David Niddrie, could set the stage for a political battle as parties vie for their chosen nominees.

A total of 84 nominations have been received by Parliament since it called for names in October.

Filling the vacancies is urgent: should another member resign in the interim, the board could be left without the necessary quorum to take decisions, communications committee chairman Eric Kholwane said yesterday.

He confirmed that the committee would meet on Thursday next week to draw up a shortlist of possibly 12 names. Interviews would be held from January 18 to 20.

The political tussle is expected to take place once the interviews have been concluded and the committee has to decide on which four names to recommend to the National Assembly for President Jacob Zuma’s approval.

An SABC board member, who did not want to be named, suggested that the process would be highly politicised, with the ANC expected to push for its own nominees.

“The ANC will have the mindset that the four (new) members must come from the ANC (recommendations) and this will spark the tension. There’s going to be friction,” the member said.

“That’s where the war will start,” he said.

Kholwane, however, downplayed this possibility, saying what was most needed were people with the right skills to enhance the board’s capacity.

“You can’t tell (whether there will be friction or not). We should all work towards getting the best people in there,” he said.

It is understood that the ANC and its alliance partners, Cosatu and the South African Communist Party, have recommended names, along with opposition parties and media lobby groups.

DA MP Natasha Michael said the party would not stand for “cadre deployment” by ANC MPs. “Cadre deployment must be completely out. Coming up to (local government) elections, radio and television is at the forefront of how political parties send their messages out. It (the board) must be democratic and accountable,” she said.

Speaking to the Cape Times yesterday, board chairman Ben Ngubane said: “The SABC went through a hell of a lot. We must ensure that the procedure (of the appointments) is done correctly.”

Asked how he had dealt with the media storm as commentators and opposition parties slated him as a political appointment deployed to the board as a tool for the Zuma administration, he said: ”People say all sorts of painful things (of people) in public positions.”

On Zuma he said: ”I have a lot of respect for him.

“I’ll call him a friend because we have a long relationship and history.” - Michelle Pietersen