Johannesburg - Public Protector Thuli Madonsela's interview on the SAfm radio station was cancelled as the SABC could not find other people in time to take part in the debate, it said on Wednesday.
“Remember that the radio show is a debate consisting of a panel. The producers could not get other people for the debate together with the public protector,” said spokesman Kaizer Kganyago.
“Her office was informed about this beforehand. It was probably a miscommunication between Madonsela and the station.”
The debate would not have been balanced without other participants, he said.
Madonsela arrived at the SABC's Radio Park on Tuesday for an interview on SAfm's “Forum@Eight” only to be told that the interview was cancelled, the Sowetan newspaper reported.
She told the newspaper the radio station apologised to her for the cancellation.
Kganyago said a scheduled interview for the “Question Time” programme on the SABC 24-hour news channel with Madonsela went ahead on Tuesday.
On Monday, Madonsela released a scathing report on the SABC.
She criticised the public broadcaster's acting chief operations officer (COO) Hlaudi Motsoeneng and the SABC board over his irregular appointment and salary progression at the public broadcaster.
She found that Motsoeneng irregularly and rapidly increased the salaries of various staff members, resulting in the state broadcaster footing an unprecedented salary bill escalation of R29 million.
Madonsela found former communications minister Dina Pule had interfered unduly in the SABC's affairs during her tenure, and that Pule's conduct amounted to abuse of power.
She urged Communications Minister Yunus Carrim to take urgent steps to fill the “long outstanding vacant post of COO” with a suitably qualified permanent incumbent within 90 days.
She called on Carrim to establish why group chief executive officers at the SABC could not function, and left prematurely, causing financial and operational strains. - Sapa