DA welcomes summons against Maguvhe

8 December 2016

Prof Mbulaheni Maguvhe’s wanton disregard for Parliament cannot be allowed to stand.

This afternoon, Maguvhe was scheduled before the SABC parliamentary inquiry Ad Hoc Committee, and was a no-show. He gave no official notice to the committee explaining his absence.

As such, as the DA, we welcome the unanimous decision by members of the committee that Maguvhe should be issued with a legally binding summons to appear before the committee to account for the apparent collapse of good governance at the SABC.

The DA reminds Maguvhe that in terms of Section 17 of the Privileges and Immunities Act, any person who has been duly summonsed to a committee of Parliament and without sufficient cause fails to attend, commits an offence and is liable to a fine or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding 12 months or to both the fine and the imprisonment.

Maguvhe has tried everything to halt the proceedings of the committee. On 2 December his application for an interdict to stop proceedings of the ad hoc committee failed, with costs being awarded against him. Yesterday, he tried to halt proceedings by stating that he had applied for leave to appeal against the judgment against him.

The work of the committee must be allowed to continue and those called to testify must do so in the interest of restoring the integrity and stability of the national broadcaster.

Issued by Phumzile Van Damme, DA Shadow Minister of Communications, 8 December 2016