Manyi: Presidency fails to heed lessons of Simelane debacle 

Yesterday, the Presidency claimed that it is the President's prerogative to appoint Jimmy Manyi to the Board of the Media Development and Diversity Agency (MDDA). 

You would have thought that the President would have learned something from the Menzi Simelane saga.

Yes, the President has powers to make direct appointments to the MDDA Board. But his decision must still be made within the parameters of the law. Like his decision to appoint Menzi Simelane, we have good reason to believe he failed to apply his mind in this matter.

For this reason, the Democratic Alliance (DA) will initiate a parliamentary investigation to ascertain whether or not Jimmy Manyi is fit to fulfil his MDDA Board member duties as provided for in Section 6(1)(d) of the MDDA Act.

We believe that any objective investigation will conclude that he is not.

There are four compelling reasons why we believe Mr Manyi's appointment is invalid and unlawful:

• Section 2 of the Act states that the MDDA is "independent", and must exercise its powers without political interference. The appointment of the government spokesperson to the agency clearly jeopardises the independence of the entity.
• Section 5 of the Act states that a person is disqualified from board membership if he has "as a result of improper conduct, been removed from an office of trust". The Presidency did not explain why Mr Manyi's suspension from the Department of Labour did not disqualify him as a candidate for the board.
• Section 4(4) of the Act requires members of the board to be persons who are "committed to fairness, freedom of expression, openness and accountability". In 2011, Mr Manyi's threat to withdraw advertising revenue from newspapers that do not toe the line in their coverage of the government pointed to a lack of commitment to these principles.
• The fostering of diversity in the media is a key legislative mandate of the MDDA. Given Mr Manyi's history of making racially divisive comments it is a matter of principle that he should not serve on a body tasked with promoting diversity. The Presidency's response did not address this concern.

 The President has embarrassed himself through a number of bad appointments that needed to be reversed. The appointment of Menzi Simelane as Head of the National Prosecuting Authority, the renewal of Chief Justice Sandile Ngcobo's term and the appointment of Willem Heath as Head of the Special Investigating Unit were all poorly considered. 

It looks as if the appointment of Jimmy Manyi to the MDDA Board may be in the same category. If Parliament concludes that he is not fit to hold office, we will table a resolution in the National Assembly to have Mr Manyi's appointment revoked.

Statement issued by Natasha Michael MP, DA Shadow Minister of Communications, January 18 2012

Click here to sign up to receive our free daily headline email newsletter