The Committee also unanimously agreed that the incumbent Board members should be requested to resign. They have acted like a gang whose priority has only been to protect the former COO and now Group Executive of Corporate Affairs, ‘cloudy’ Hlaudi Motsoeneng (pictured). In doing so, they have collectively led to the demise of the public broadcaster. This is most notably evidenced by the scathing judgments by the Western Cape High Court and Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) against Motsoeneng and the Board who have led to losses at the SABC of almost a billion rand in just 2 years.
Opposition party the Democratic Alliance say the Committee’s resolve is much welcomed “and long overdue… Parliament has for too long avoided holding the public broadcaster and its defunct Board to account as demanded by section 55(2) of the Constitution. It is a pity that the ANC allowed the crisis at the SABC to continue to escalate over the last couple of months. The crisis could have been avoided much sooner. We are, nevertheless, pleased that Parliament is finally giving effect to statutory obligations to hold government and its agencies to account”.
The DA says it is now patently clear that the Board of the SABC only serves to further the interests of the ANC, the Communications Minister, Faith Muthambi, and Motsoeneng, and is not dedicated – as required by the Broadcasting Act – to fairness, freedom of expression, the right of the public to be informed, and openness and accountability.
