Parliament - SABC strongman Hlaudi Motsoeneng remains safe in his new position for the moment after Parliament’s communications committee resolved on Wednesday to institute an inquiry into the fitness of the board to remain in office.
The ANC’s national executive committee and the Cabinet have called for Motsoeneng to be removed immediately.
Acting SABC group chief executive James Aguma told Independent Media that Motsoeneng had been appointed to the position of group executive for corporate affairs by the broadcaster’s executives, not the board. He was satisfied it had been done correctly in terms of the delegation of authority contained in the SABC’s memorandum of incorporation.
Motsoeneng remained defiant in Parliament on Wednesday, warning parties that he was not going anywhere. He said he was still going to keep his position despite the decision of Parliament to initiate an inquiry to dissolve the SABC board.
IFP MP Liezl van der Merwe said Motsoeneng had demonstrated his arrogance when he was speaking outside the committee meeting that he was not going anywhere.
She said this was a strong indication that Motsoeneng remained defiant.
EFF deputy leader Floyd Shivambu said they would not be intimidated by Motsoeneng, and assured him he would be out of the SABC by the end of the year.
Motsoeneng’s “rantings and chicken bravery” would not sway MPs from their quest to oust him. “We are not going to be intimidated by Hlaudi,” said Shivambu. “There’s no one who is indispensable in South Africa. We have got the rule of law; we have a Constitution that guides how things must be done so he must not treat us like we are kids... and harass us without consequences. The time of games has come to an end. He must live with that reality now.”
This comes after Motsoeneng’s appointment as chief operations officer was set aside and leave to appeal against the judgment denied. The broadcaster then decided to appoint him as group executive for corporate affairs instead.
The decision drew outrage from the ANC, among others, which called on the board to review it.
In the meantime, the shock resignation of board members Krish Naidoo and Vusi Mavuso means the board is no longer able to meet the quorum of nine members required by the Broadcasting Act. As a result it cannot take any decisions.
Communications oversight committee chairman Humphrey Maxegwana said this meant there was nothing that could be done to remove Motsoeneng because, even if the board had been willing to do so, it could not do it legally.
Maxegwana is to write to Speaker of Parliament Baleka Mbete on Thursday requesting that an inquiry be instituted as soon as possible after the committee agreed the board was dysfunctional and had met the requirements for its dissolution contained in the Broadcasting Act.
He will also write to each of the four remaining board members - chairman Obert Maghuve, Leah Khumalo, Aaron Tshidzumba and Nomvuyo Mahlakaza - asking them to resign or face an inquiry, which might damage their reputations.
Members of the committee were anxious to take a resolution to dissolve the board on the spot after Naidoo and Mavuso announced their resignations during the meeting in Parliament on Wednesday.
“I have come to the conclusion that this board is dysfunctional. It should be scrapped and personally I would be resigning today as a board member,” said Naidoo, who has been vocal about how he had voted against the move to reinstate Motsoeneng. Naidoo, a lawyer, went on to tell the committee that the Supreme Court of Appeal had the final say on Motsoeneng’s future at the broadcaster. “That’s the final door, you are no longer an employee of the organisation, as simple as that,” said Naidoo.
Mavuso said like Naidoo, he had been ostracised when key decisions were made at board level. He told MPs that he had been given no opportunity to make input or see the presentation to MPs before it was tabled in the committee on Wednesday morning.
Parliament’s senior legal adviser, Ntuthuzelo Vanara, warned the disbandment of the board could be done only after a due inquiry, which he argued would be a lengthy process in which charges were put to the board members and they were given the opportunity to respond, as well as the right to legal representation.
But the EFF’s Shivambu argued that since Naidoo and Mavuso had confirmed they had not been party to a decision by the board to appoint Bessie Tugwana as acting chief operations officer, which they discovered only on Wednesday, it was clear the remaining members of the board had taken the decision without a quorum, which made it unlawful.
This alone was grounds to find the board had failed to discharge its fiduciary duties, Shivambu said, and an inquiry of no more than a day would be required to establish this.
It would now be up to Mbete to respond to the committee’s request for an inquiry, after which its terms of reference would be drawn up based on the issues flagged by MPs, Maxegwana said.
Political Bureau and ANA