Parly sub-committee recommends 12 candidates to fill SABC board vacancies

The SABC has been without board of directors for over a month.

Picture File: SABC building in Auckland Park, Johannesburg. Picture: Veli Nhlapo

The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) could soon have a new board.

The public broadcaster has been without a board of directors since the mandate of the previous board expired at the end of September.

New SABC board

On Thursday, the sub-committee of the Portfolio Committee on Communications recommended 12 candidates to serve on the new board, following interviews conducted by parliamentarians in October.

The recommended candidates to serve on the new board include former SABC head of news, Phathiswa Magopeni, who was dismissed from the public broadcaster earlier this year, as well as former SABC journalist Dr Renee Horne, veteran broadcaster Mpho Tsedu, and the CEO of the Association of Comms and Technology, Nomvuyiso Batyi.

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The other recommended candidates were Advocate Tseliso Thipanyane, Khathutshelo Ramukumba, Professor Franz Krüger, Aifheli Makhwanya, Rearabetsoe Motaung, lawyer Magdalene Moonsamy, Dinkwanyane Mohuba, and Dinkwanyane Mohuba.

The delays in appointing a new SABC board have been blamed on the State Security Agency (SSA), which vetted the candidates interviewed by the sub-committee of parliament’s oversight committee on communications.

The committee’s report on the 12 recommended names is expected to be tabled in the National Assembly for further consideration.

National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula will then forward the recommended names to President Cyril Ramapohosa for appointment in terms of Section 13 of the Broadcasting Act.

Reserve list of three names

The committee also resolved on the recommendation of its subcommittee to include an additional reserve list of three names to cater for any eventuality, given the length of the process of appointing a new board.

The candidates on the reserve list included axed Prasa CEO Zolani Matthews, Palesa Kadi and Quentin Green.

Earlier this month, the SOS public service broadcasting coalition said the SABC’s current financial standing posed a threat to its existence, following the Auditor-General’s 2021-22 annual report which indicated the R201 million loss in this financial year may cast significant doubt on its ability to continue operating.

“As such, the incoming board’s primary focus should be to devise policies and strategies that seek to remedy the financial downturn at the SABC,” the SOS Coalition’s national coordinator Uyanda Siyotula said.

Compiled by Thapelo Lekabe. Additional reporting by Reitumetse Makwea

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