SABC Board: ANC in Parliament chooses cronies above competence

Today, Parliament was presented with the opportunity to select a new board to steer the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) into calm waters.  Instead, ANC members of the Portfolio Committee on Communications chose to select candidates on the basis of party political loyalties and not proficiency for the task at hand.

The 12 board members proposed and accepted by the ANC in Parliament today, were rejected by the DA and other political parties on the grounds that:

• The proposed board deviated from the draft agreed upon by the committee task team last week;
• The ANC was not prepared to negotiate on today's proposed board; and
• The ANC today chose to ignore the exceptional talent and capacity in candidates proposed and opted to reward party loyalty in the redeployment of cadres.
• The DA will oppose the ANC in Parliament's list of SABC board candidates when it is tabled for a vote on Thursday. 

The SABC has sadly continued on its downward spiral as confirmed by its dreadful audit outcomes for the 2012/13 financial year. 

It is disappointing that the ANC in Parliament refused to select a capable and effective board to fix it.

Statement issued by Marian Shinn MP, DA Shadow Minister of Communications, September 17 2013

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