The SABC – New year, same problems
11 January 2019
Towards the end of 2018, the financially-troubled South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) was rocked by the resignation of four Board Members. This brought the number of vacant seats to eight, following four other resignations during the course of the year. The most recent resignations have rendered the Board inquorate and unable to take major decisions affecting the public broadcaster, as well as unable to hold the executive members of the Board and the Executive Committee accountable for their conduct.
The resignations dealt a final blow to a significantly tumultuous year at the Broadcaster, which closed the year with advertisements for replacements to fill the eight vacancies. Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Communications has indicated that it will be returning to work early in 2019 to allow for the interviewing of candidates and the filling of the positions because until such time that the posts are filled, the SABC is operating without any visible leadership.
There have been concerns raised (rightly so) regarding the limited time frame within which the appointments are intended to be made, as due diligence is necessary where public officials are appointed. At present, this is even more true for State-owned enterprises (SOEs) like the SABC, particularly in the wake of State capture and the history of maladministration at the public broadcaster itself. In the past, the appointments have taken well over a month, thus ensuring transparency and accountability, as well as public participation in the appointment process. The Committee is no doubt chasing deadlines, as 2019 is also an election year, meaning that Parliament will rise early to fulfil constituency duty leading up to May 2019. Regardless, a procedurally sound and open process must be carried out.
Of particular concern in the SABC’s case, is the apparent reason behind the abrupt resignations from a Board that looked to be the saving grace of the embattled SOE. At the root of the mass exodus seems to be the relationship between the Board and newly-appointed Minister of Communications, Telecommunications and Postal Services, Minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams (the Minister). When the Board came to the decision to retrench close to 1 000 employees and slash up to 1 200 freelancers as part of its restructuring process - estimated to save the SABC in the region of R400 million per year - the Minister opposed the decision and reassured staff that their positions were safe. This was presumably done because the Minister believed that the Board was no longer acting in the interests of the SABC and that Treasury would grant the R3 billion bailout needed to keep the Broadcaster afloat. The Board and the Minister could not agree on a way forward and this led to the resignations.