MPs want Muthambi to quit over SABC crisis
Communications Minister Faith Muthambi faces an uncertain future, with some members of Parliament’s ad hoc committee looking into the crisis at the SABC seeming to push for her removal. Muthambi has come under sharp criticism for her role in the collapse of the board of the public broadcaster.
Communications Minister Faith Muthambi faces an uncertain future with some members of Parliament’s ad hoc committee looking into the crisis at the SABC seemingly pushing for her removal.
Muthambi has come under sharp criticism for her role in the collapse of the board of the public broadcaster.
During deliberations on the draft report on the SABC inquiry on Thursday, some MPs suggested that she may have violated the Constitution by, among other things, acting in a way that “improperly” benefited Hlaudi Motsoeneng, the controversial former chief operating officer of the SABC.
During hearings in December, witnesses alleged she had strong-armed the SABC board into supporting the appointment of Motsoeneng in 2014.
Motsoeneng was appointed despite a damning report by the public protector, which found that he had fabricated a matric qualification, purged those he disagreed with and irregularly increased his salary from R1.5m to R2.4m in one year.
The public protector recommended that he be disciplined. But the SABC went on to confirm his appointment as chief operating officer.
MPs were largely in agreement that Muthambi interfered in SABC board matters and undermined the Broadcasting Act. It remains unclear whether the report will indeed explicitly recommend that the minister be removed. But the DA, which has called for her to be sacked, is likely to be emboldened by some of the damning contents of the report.
The ad hoc committee hopes to finalise its draft report on Friday before sending it to affected parties for comment.
EFF MP Fana Mokoena said Muthambi had irregularly amended the memorandum of incorporation, which to a large extent hindered the SABC board from carrying out its duties.