SABC board: MPs welcome legal opinion after Ramaphosa’s letter declared ‘grossly unlawful’

Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Communications and Digital Technologies has welcomed the legal opinion provided to it on Thursday, declaring that President Cyril Ramaphosa had acted unlawfully by questioning its list of candidates for the SABC board.

The committee and opposition parties have now called on Ramaphosa to appoint a new SABC board immediately.

Ramaphosa’s action ‘unprecedented’

Parliament’s legal advisor, Andile Tetyana, told the committee that the president’s request for the names of 12-member SABC board to be reconsidered was “unprecedented and grossly unlawful”.

Tetyana said the list of names sent to Ramaphosa in December was “legally sound”.

The SABC has been without a board for almost six months and Ramaphosa has been criticised for delaying the appointment of new members.

Ramaphosa wrote a letter to National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula on 9 March asking Parliament to reconsider the list of names that was originally given to him.

He said he had concerns about the legality of the process after 12 names were submitted to him, with an additional three names also selected.

ALSO READ: SABC board: Dithering Ramaphosa refers overdue appointments back to Parliament

Tetyana, however, said this letter was “unprecedented”.

The letter of 9 March has got no basis in law,” he said.

He added that Ramaphosa must go to the Constitutional Court if he has concerns.

“He cannot take the law into his own hands,” said Tetyana.

The legal advisor also berated the president for trying to instruct Parliament.

“The president must tell Parliament where he is taking this power to instruct it on how it should conduct its business,” said Tetyana.

Legal opinion welcomed

The Portfolio Committee on Communication and Digital Technologies has since welcomed Tetyana’s independent legal opinion.

Parliament will also be reverting to the original list of candidates.

“The committee is pleased that the independent legal opinion reaffirms that its recruitment process and the subsequent resolution of the [National Assembly] were above board,” said the portfolio committee’s chairperson Boyce Maneli.

ALSO READ: Ramaphosa’s letter over SABC board ‘grossly unlawful’, Parliament hears

Maneli also urged Ramaphosa to now appoint a new SABC board.

“Accordingly, in his capacity as the appointing authority, the president should be able to appoint the SABC board from the list of names that were adopted by the National Assembly in December 2022.”

Opposition MPs slam Ramaphosa

Opposition parties have also laid into the president.

The DA’s Dianne Kohler Barnard said Ramaphosa has “become used to illegally interfering in appointment processes”.

She accused Ramaphosa of trying to prevent former SABC head of news, Phathiswa Magopeni, from getting a seat obn the board. Magobeni was dismissed from the public broadcaster last year.

“We believe that the delay was caused by the ANC deployment committee, who objected to the appointment of Phatiswa Magopeni, the former head of news, who stood up against political interference at the SABC,” said Kohler Barnard.

Kohler Barnard called on Ramaphosa to immediately appoint a new SABC board and threatened legal action if he didn’t.

“Should he fail to do so, the Democratic Alliance will consider taking the president to court for failing to uphold his constitutional and legislative duties.”

The EFF’s Vuyani Pambo also lambasted Ramaphosa.

“The powers of Parliament were trampled on. Who is advising this president? This process did not need Parliament to spend any cent to make sense of,” he said.