Cape Town - The SABC and the Minister of Communications, Faith Muthambi, have refused to be drawn on the ANC’s call to respect the decision of the Supreme Court of Appeal in the re-appointment of Hlaudi Motsoeneng.
SABC spokesman Kaizer Kganyago said on Monday they would not comment on the ANC’s tough stance for the public broadcaster and Muthambi to uphold the rule of law.
The ANC also urged Parliament to summons the SABC Board to explain its decision to re-appoint Motsoeneng.
This comes as the party said it was following the sentiments expressed by President Jacob Zuma for all institutions to respect the laws of the land and decisions of the courts.
ANC spokesman Zizi Kodwa said following the meeting with the judiciary last year, the ruling party promised to abide by court decisions. He said it would be wrong if the SABC Board and Muthambi did not respect decisions of the courts.
Muthambi’s spokesman, Mish Molakeng, said they stood by last week's remarks that the minister had not seen the resolution of the SABC Board to re-appoint Motsoeneng as acting chief operating officer.
The ANC said it would not help any party if decisions of the courts were not respected. It warned the SABC Board not to trample on the court judgments.
“The ANC calls on the minister charged with oversight over this portfolio, Faith Muthambi, to assist the board in this regard,” said Kodwa.
“Further, it calls on Parliament to summon the SABC to comprehensively account on the state of the corporation and its reported challenges,” he said.
He warned that the board should not take a decision that would circumvent the decision of the SCA.
The portfolio committee on communications has said it would call for the SABC board to make its appearance in Parliament sooner than expected.
Chairman of the committee Humphrey Maxegwana said yesterday they expected the SABC to come to Parliament in November, but this meeting has been brought forward to October 11.
This will be when other entities falling under the committee will be presenting their financial statements to MPs.
The SABC is said to be in dire financial straits, but the public broadcaster refused to confirm this when it went to Parliament last month.
It did not give figures on its losses for the 2015/16 financial year, but reports have put the figure at half-a-billion rand.
This will be more than the R400-million loss suffered by the public broadcaster last year.
The SABC board has been plagued by infighting that led to the departure of some its members.