The Democratic Alliance believes former SABC CEO Dali Mpofu should not accept his full R12 million payout from the public broadcaster and the Department of Communications, and should return part of the package on the grounds that, on his watch, the SABC's administration went into meltdown, at great cost to the South Africa taxpayer -the same taxpayer that is now forced to effectively reward his poor leadership.

Mpofu's full package includes R6.7 million in terms of the SABC's contractual obligations and a R4.4 restraint of trade payout from the Department of Communications as well as some R900 000 in bonuses. (By way of background, Mpofu also received a R2.1 million bonus during 2008, 47.3% higher than the previous years' R1.4 million. Mpofu's salary was also increased by 19.7 percent to R4.5-million over that period.)

It is outrageous that Mpofu should qualify for a bonus. The problems facing the SABC are acute and wide-ranging. It had to be baled out - at the taxpayer's expense, to the tune of R780 million this year. In 2006/07 it had to be bailed-out to the value of R119 million, and in 2007/08, again, this time to the value of R132 million.

Mpofu has stated that he will "accept responsibility for any decisions made" during his tenure, but he "won't take responsibility for the mess over the past 18 months".

This statement is problematic for two reasons:

• First, as is evident, the problems at the SABC stretch back far beyond the past 18 months; and
• Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, as CEO it was Mpofu's job to accept responsibility. Admittedly there was little he could do while suspended but the fact that he was suspended and all the drama that surrounded it, arose because those people in key positions at the SABC - of which Mpofu was central - failed to do their jobs properly and political infighting took precedence over sound management. Both he and the board must accept responsibility for that.

Against this background, at the very least, the DA believes Dali Mpofu should decline to accept the R900 000 awarded to him as a performance bonus. We also believe he should decline to accept the full R6.7 million awarded to him in terms of his contractual obligations, and return half the money.

A contract works two ways. It requires the employee (Dali Mpofu) to deliver a product to the employer (the South African taxpayer). All Dali Mpofu delivered was a giant mess. In principle, he cannot claim to have met his obligations to the public and, we believe, in good conscience, should not claim his full payout.

Statement issued by Niekie van den Berg, Democratic Alliance shadow minister of communications, August 16 2009

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