Parliament, Cape Town - Communications Minister Faith Muthambi will be asked as a matter of urgency to respond to a legal opinion saying the SABC board had no authority to remove three of its members earlier this year.
This comes after Muthambi defended the move at a meeting of Parliament’s portfolio committee on communications in March, saying due process had been followed in terms of the Companies Act.
Yesterday, parliamentary legal adviser Nathi Mxenjane said it was an established principle in law that where two or more pieces of legislation covered the same ground, the one applying specifically to the matter in question took precedence.
In this instance the Broadcasting Act applied specifically to the appointment and removal of SABC board members and therefore trumped the Companies Act, he said.
The removal of board members Hope Zinde, Rachel Kalidass and Ronnie Lubisi was therefore invalid and unlawful, he said.
Chairwoman of Parliament’s portfolio committee on communications Joyce Moloi-Moropa, who had requested the opinion, said she would formally refer it to Muthambi and invite her to Parliament to respond.
Muthambi’s spokesman, Ayanda Hollow, said the Communications Department would wait to received the opinion before commenting.
Political Bureau