SABC spent thousands on outsider

The SABC forked out R246000 to enable a private consultant to attend an international leadership course that he failed to complete, reportedly because of a dispute with prostitutes.

SABC board chairman Ben Ngubane told the portfolio committee on communications that Justice Ndaba, the man who dropped out of the expensive course in London, was actually not the SABC's head of human capital services .

Ngubane stunned MPs when he told them that Ndaba, who had appeared alongside him at previous parliamentary meetings, was in fact a consultant for the SABC.

He said that though there had been an intention on the part of the SABC to hire him, the plan was abandoned at a pre-interview stage when it was found that there was a default judgment awarded against him, which disqualified him from the position.

"In the pre-interview tests, Ndaba came out tops. He was the best of the candidates. But when we came to preparing for the interviews . it came out that [there were] judgments against him," said Ngubane.

Communications committee chairman Eric Kholwane slammed the SABC for financing the studies of a private consultant. Parliament instructed Ngubane to furnish it with a full report on how Ndaba got to be in business with the public broadcaster .

The Sunday Times reported that the SABC wanted Ndaba to pay back R246 000 it spend on him to attend the prestigious leadership course that he failed to complete because of an incident involving a dispute with prostitutes.