Cape Town - The South African Communist Party (SACP) says it will raise the issue of corporate governance at the SABC when the Tripartite Alliance meets after the August 3 local government elections.
Earlier this morning just over 50 supporters of the SACP picketed in front of the SABC’s regional office in Sea Point to protest the recent ban on showing violent protests.
Seven SABC journalists who publicly opposed the directive have since been fired from their jobs at the broadcaster.
SACP deputy general-secretary Solly Mapaila said the SABC had become a state institution and had been “captured” by its management for their own “selfish” benefit.
“The SABC has now imposed draconian measures of censorship through the COO (Hlaudi Motsoeneng) who is not even supposed to be there according to the Western Cape High Court,” said Mapaila.
In May the court upheld an earlier decision that Motsoeneng’s appointment was irrational. This came after Motsoeneng sought leave to appeal the application brought by the Democratic Alliance.
The SABC has since stated that it would challenge the judgment in the Constitutional Court.
Mapaila said Motsoeneng had taken the corporation’s policy process from the office of the Group Chief Executive Officer to his office.
“He’s now using that to impose these draconian measures on the institution,” said Mapaila.
The SACP said it wanted to protect the public institution from “corporate capture, and poor management”.
“We’re also calling on the board to resign. We’re calling on government, and the President (Jacob Zuma) to review the appointment of this board because it seems they’re in collusion to destroy the SABC against Chapter 2 of our constitution which is the Bill of Rights which encapsulates the right to information and to freedom.
“One of those freedoms has now been trampled upon by Hlaudi Motsoeneng and his management team, in collusion with the board,” said Mapaila.
While the SACP was also investigating the possible legal route to challenge the management of the SABC, Mapaila said those currently in charge of the broadcaster had “no sense of legality”.
“But we’ll have to impose legal measures which will effectively remove them from the SABC. The Public Protector had actually made a ruling on this particular individual(Motsoeneng), and the board had protected him and went further to make an appointment.
Mapaila said the SABC management will be held to account for the abuse of public resources, individually, while it fought court rulings, and the latest from the Independent Communications Authority of SA over its violent protest ban.
“You can’t stay in office by abusing public resources, including this decision they took to expel workers and then they say the workers can go to the CCMA. They know that that route will take long, I know that after CCMA, (the SABC) will challenge it further to the Labour Court which will be resolved after two years.
“Where will workers’ income be coming from? It is this kind abuse of power, and the general decay that we want to stop at the SABC,” said Mapaila.
Cape Times