‘Zuma should have named new SABC board by now’
Delay due to lack of diligence, says parliamentary committee chairman
PRESIDENT Jacob Zuma has had enough time to appoint a new board at the SABC and could have made his selection last month if he was more diligent. That is according to parliament’s portfolio committee on communications chairman‚ Humphry Maxegawana‚ who said the presidency’s due diligence on candidates recommended by parliament should have been completed sooner.
“The problem we have with the process is that we presented our report [to parliament] on September 6‚” Maxegawana said.
“The [interim] SABC board was going out on September 26.
“We think it was enough time for the president to have done all the processes needed so that the matter was concluded by the 26th.
“If they started the process after receiving the names on September 6‚ they would have completed it in time.”
City Press reported yesterday that Zuma and Communications Minister Ayanda Dlodlo had been accused of deliberately delaying the appointment of the board to make their own appointments for the positions of chief operating officer‚ chief executive officer‚ and chief financial officer.
Civil society groups have also weighed in on the matter and Save Our SABC chairwoman Thandi Smith said there was far too much political interference when it came to the appointment of new boards.
“The fact that we are waiting for the appointment of three major [positions] is infuriating,” she said.
“It works against the good work which was done by the interim board.
“We heard [that the reasons for the delay are that] there needs to be more vetting processes, so that means that they don’t trust the parliamentary processes which did the same.
“We thought it would happen quickly and it has been very disappointing that we are getting the interference.”
The president’s spokesman‚ Bongani Ngqulunga‚ said vetting of candidates had been done, but would not say when the appointments would be made. “The Presidency received all the documentation on Friday‚ which will enable the president to complete the process soon‚” Ngqulunga said.
“As the appointing authority‚ the president is required by the law to ensure that persons appointed to the SABC meet certain requirements.”