JOHANNESBURG, April 21 (ANA) – The interim board of the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) said on Friday it was moving ahead with reviewing the decisions taken by former COO Hlaudi Motsoeneng, including advertising his former position and reviewing his some of his controversial policies.
In a statement late Friday, the interim board said it had been engaged in ongoing work with the communications department to put together a package to ensure the financial rescue of the corporation and the document would be ready for submission to Treasury in the next few days.
“The interim board has instructed management to proceed with the advertisement of the positions of group chief executive officer (GCEO) and chief operations officer (COO) with immediate effect,” the board said.
“The process that had already been started with the recruitment agency will be extended by one month to enable applicants who may still want to be considered, to apply for the position. The position of Group Executive: Radio will also be advertised.”
Motsoeneng, the former SABC chief operations officer (COO), has fallen out with the interim board after he criticised its appointment during a media briefing on Wednesday.
He was replaced at the SABC after a damning Parliamentary ad hoc committee report found that the previous board had mismanaged the public broadcaster, leading to the loss of hundreds of millions of rands.
The Public Protector’s report found against Motsoeneng on many fronts, including his irregular appointment, hiking his salary by more than half a million from R3.8 million to R4.2 million, as well as that he was a “dishonest” employee who caused “a toxic failure of corporate governance” at the SABC.
The interim board was appointed in March by the President Jacob Zuma and ratified Communications Minister, Ayanda Dlodlo, at the beginning of this month. Its mandate is to bring stability to the SABC within six months and restore confidence in the public broadcaster after the previous board collapsed.
The board said it had considered the Public Protector’s report, ‘When Governance and Ethics Fail’ and also considered the legal action that the SABC had taken to take the report on review.
“The interim board is currently deliberating around the matter. The Interim Board is also considering the Multichoice deal,” the board said.
The board also said it would review policies enforced by Motsoeneng to the detriment of the broadcaster.
Motsoeneng spearheaded the implementation of 90 percent and 80 percent local content on SABC radio and TV stations subsequently in a bid to empower local artists, a decision that left a number of radio stations bleeding cash as advertisers fled.
“In terms of the 90/10 local music and 80/20 television quota decisions, the interim board has decided that it will review the decision, considering regulations by ICASA, the cost of implementing the decision and the governance around the directive made in this regard.”
– African News Agency (ANA)
