SABC’s Aguma resignation won’t let him off the hook

18 July 2017

The DA welcomes the resignation of the SABC’s suspended chief executive, James Aguma. However, Aguma’s decision to resign instead of facing a disciplinary hearing does not mean he is going to be let off the hook for his part in the institutional breakdown at the SABC.

Aguma faces serious accusations, including tender irregularities and overseeing massive fruitless and wasteful expenditure, and reports that his resignation will result in the SABC withdrawing charges are concerning. Equally so reports that he is set for a golden handshake.

Aguma’s convenient exit reiterates the urgent need for the Speaker of the National Assembly, Baleka Mbete, to table the report into those who lied during Parliament’s SABC Inquiry. The report, compiled by Parliament’s Legal Services Unit, identifies “the persons who misled the inquiry or provided false information or false testimony with the aim of criminal charges being laid”.

Mbete has steadfastly refused to table the report, which she received on 5 June 2017; instead, she has “[written] to individuals cited on the list, inviting them to make submissions by the end of July on the serious allegations they face”. Aguma is no doubt named in the report and now faces a fine and/or imprisonment for violating the Powers, Privileges and Immunities of Parliament and Provincial Legislatures Act.

It should not be forgotten that Aguma also told the Portfolio Committee on Communications, as well as the Standing Committee on Public Accounts, that there was no financial crisis at the SABC following the release of the SABC Inquiry report, another patent lie.

The DA will not allow Aguma to escape accountability for the key role he played in the SABC’s demise.

Issued by Mike Waters, Deputy Chief Whip of the Democratic Alliance, 19 July 2017