SABC inquiry: Minister Muthambi must go
28 February 2017
The release of the damning final report of the Ad Hoc Committee on the SABC Board Inquiry shows one thing above all – that Faith Muthambi is not fit to hold the position of Minister of Communications. As such, the DA calls on her to do the honourable thing and resign. Should she fail to do this, then President Zuma must follow the recommendations on the report and remove Faith Muthambi from her position with immediate effect.
The findings of the committee reveal that Minister Muthambi abused her political power to interfere in the workings of the SABC, resulting in major systematic deterioration of the public broadcaster.
Her inability to govern her department has been highlighted in the report. The Minister, among other things:
Failed to advertise the post of COO of the SABC because she claims that Hlaudi Motsoeneng had done “a sterling job” as acting COO. By not advertising the post, and supposedly pressuring the Board to appoint her choice of candidate, she contravened Section 96 (2) (c) of the Constitution which states that no Cabinet Member must use their position to improperly benefit any other person. This was after the Public Protector had already released a report which found that Motsoeneng had lied about his qualifications.