Maroleng ‘not vetted’

Communications Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane was in the hot seat before parliament’s oversight committee yesterday as she struggled to explain why she was contesting the appointment of Chris Maroleng as the chief operating officer of the SABC.

She said Maroleng had not been fully vetted and therefore his appointment was in essence null and void pending that process being carried out.

“It [the vetting process] has not been finalised … I don’t want to appoint; I don’t want to fire. There is a process,” she said.

Kubayi-Ngubane was summoned to appear before the portfolio committee in light of the High Court in Pretoria ruling last year which found the board was entitled to appoint non-executive members without the go-ahead from the minister. Former minister of communications Faith Muthambi had erred and overstepped her powers by interfering and deciding it was her prerogative.

The furore follows the appointment of Zimbabwean-born Maroleng to the board as chief operating officer. Kubayi-Ngubane refused to accept this decision and it ended up with a court intervention.

“The judgment was based on the wrong memorandum of incorporation so it must be reconsidered,” she said, adding this was the basis of the appeal.

She had powers delegated to her as a member of Cabinet, she said.

Since government was a 100% shareholder of the SABC, she maintained the executive had a role to play.

Since the vetting process had yet to be concluded, Maroleng jumped the gun in publicly accepting a congratulatory message, she added.

Economic Freedom Fighters MP Mbuyiseni Ndlozi appealed to the board not to let the minister “bind” them.

“It’s the public broadcaster. Your [minister’s] opinion doesn’t bind them. That’s why it’s a public broadcaster and not the state broadcaster; otherwise it would be a spaza shop of government,” he said.

The committee agreed to hold a special committee meeting to deliberate on what exactly the powers of the minister were regarding the appointment of the non-executives.