Letter from Kate Skinner, SOS coalition, to members of the SABC board, November 8 2011:

The "SOS: Support Public Broadcasting" Coalition

Chair and Members of the SABC Board
SABC Private BagAuckland Park
2006
Cc The Minster of Communications, Ms. Dina Pule; Chair of the Portfolio Committee on Communications, Mr. Eric Kholwane

8 November 2011

Dear Members of the SABC Board

Urgent demand for detailed information on reported ongoing maladministration of our SABC

The SOS Coalition sent a letter to the Chair of the SABC Board on the 25^th of October 2011. We asked the Chair to get back to us within a week (i.e. by Tuesday 1 November) with written replies. We did not receive a reply. Then on 3 November 2011 Mr. Phil Molefe, the SABC's GCEO, sent the Coalition an email replying to some of our questions relating to the employment of Mr. Justice Ndaba and the R20m car scandal.

He stated that the issues were being investigated. Mr. Hlaudi Motsoeneng, Group Executive Stakeholder Management and Provinces, then attended our SOS working group meeting on 3 November. At the meeting he promised that the Chair would get back to us in writing. We thank SABC management for this engagement. However we still have not received any answers of substance or any date as to when such answers will be provided.

Given the growing seriousness of the reported maladministration, an emergency SOS working group meeting was held yesterday afternoon (7 November 2011). At this meeting the Coalition decided to call collectively for the resignation of Dr Ben Ngubane. A number of our affiliates have already individually called for this.

We are now re-sending the questions we sent to the Chair of the SABC Board to all Board members in the hope that members will be able to answer the questions below in writing by Tuesday 15^th November. Please note that a few additional questions have been added after consulting further with membership.

At the meeting SOS members resolved that they would embark on protest action on Thursday 24^th November if the Coalition had not received satisfactory answers.

The questions we would like answers to are as follows:

• What was the process followed and the reasons for the delays in the appointment of the new CEO, COO and CFO?
• Why did the SABC employ Mr. Justice Ndaba to run its critical turnaround strategy despite the fact that his qualifications could not be verified, he had a credit default judgement against him and had business interests that conflicted with his SABC employment? Also, SOS needs clarity as regards the employment status of Mr Ndaba including whether he was employed as a full-time employee or as a consultant. Finally, in light of recent media reports, SOS would like full disclosure as regards the role of the Chair in this appointment.
• The plans the SABC has put in place to ensure the turnaround strategy is effectively managed in future - SOS members have raised their unhappiness around the employment of Mr. Sipho Sithole given his previous record at the SABC and allegations of conflict of interest. Also, SOS member BEMAWU alleges that no contract exists between the SABC and Deloitt consulting leading the turnaround. We would like this issue clarified.
• Why the company secretary was suspended without a Board resolution and what the allegations are against her? The Coalition fears a situation where there may be further fruitless and wasteful expenditure if it is found that the Board has not followed correct labour law procedures.
• Explanations as regards the R20m car scandal, including reasons why inappropriate luxury vehicles were secured, not utilised and not insured. In particular why the Board, when it came into office did not deal with the outstanding tender as regards this issue as a matter of priority?
• Why the SABC has been involved in further wasteful and fruitless expenditure on items such as leather notepads (R93 000) and laptop bags (R84 000) purchased for a Departmental workshop in March 2010, and its expenditure on golf clinics of R85 000.
• Finally and most importantly why the SABC has refused to use its "Request for Proposals" Book to transparently commission new local content? The 2009 interim Board requested that the 2010 Board prioritise this. The 2010 Board then promised the Book would be released in June 2010, however only limited proposals were released. To date no full book of RFPs have been released with no explanations and no apologies. This system was an important marker in the transformation of the SABC, opening the Corporation to pursue its stated strategy of promotion of plurality and diversity of voice.

The SOS Coalition represents a number of trade unions including COSATU, COSATU affiliates CWU and CWUSA, FEDUSA, BEMAWU and MWASA; independent film and TV production sector organisations including the South African Screen Federation (SASFED); and a host of NGOs and CBOs including the Freedom of Expression Institute (FXI), Media Monitoring Africa (MMA), and the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA-SA); as well as a number of academics and freedom of expression activists.

Yours sincerely

Signed by Kate Skinner, SOS Coordinator, on behalf of the SOS Working Group

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