Cape Town - The SABC has suspended with immediate effect its group chief executive officer, Frans Matlala, less than five months after his appointment.
The broadcaster said Jimi Matthews, group executive: news and current affairs would take the reins in an acting capacity.
The board had decided to suspend Matlala pending an investigation, the SABC said in a statement, adding it would not comment further on the reasons.
The move leaves a large hole in the top management of the SABC, with chief operating officer Hlaudi Motseoeneng having taken a leave of absence pending a disciplinary inquiry ordered by the Supreme Court of Appeal following a report by Public Protector Thuli Madonsela which outlined serious abuses of power.
Matlala, a former banking executive and consultant to the SABC’s ex-chairwoman, Zandile Tshabalala, was appointed at the beginning of July without the post having been advertised.
The SABC board itself has six vacancies following the resignations of Tshabalala and two others and the removal by the board of three of its non-executive members earlier this year.
Those removals are the subject of a legal challenge in the North Gauteng High Court.
Political Bureau