Ex-SABC boss lambastes accusers as liars
FORMER SABC board chairperson Ben Ngubane has come out guns blazing against those who accused him of wrongdoing at the corporation, saying they were smearing his name.
Ngubane said yesterday the people who implicated him in their submissions to the ad hoc parliamentary committee were not telling the truth.
He said he completely rejected the allegations made against him by some of the witnesses.
He said he had given the committee verifiable information against the allegations made by some of the people who appeared before it. The information he gave to MPs should be sufficient to assist the committee.
“This evidence should assist the ad hoc committee to realise that not much reliance can be placed on oral evidence, even if it is presented by way of affidavits,” said Ngubane.
“If such affidavits are not supported by objectively verifiable evidence, in the form of documentation, they are only as good as hearsay evidence,” he said.
The ad hoc committee is deliberating on the final report on the SABC. It has to be submitted to Parliament on Tuesday for approval.
The committee began the investigation against the SABC late last year. Some of the witnesses accused Ngubane of breaches of good conduct while he was at the SABC.
Ngubane said he played an important role at the SABC during his tenure despite the challenges faced by the public broadcaster at the time.
The SABC has not had a permanent board that has completed its five-year term in the past decade.
Several boards have been dissolved due to infighting.
In the interim report MPs decided not to include recommendations because they believed this would be prejudicial to the implicated parties.
Ngubane said he believed the committee would vindicate him when it presented its final report.
After the National Assembly has approved the report on Tuesday the spotlight will shift to the portfolio committee on communications to appoint an interim board.
Parties were asked to present names of candidates they preferred to serve in the five-member interim board when the committee meets next month.