SABC investigating committee sees how the wind is blowing

Today something very odd took place. A parliamentary committee began a hearing into the bona fides of the SABC board. All good and well, except for one thing:

There is only one remaining member of the board, the chairman, Mbulaheni Maguvhe. All the other board members have resigned, correctly anticipating that the outcome will not be flattering. The rats, as they say, have fled the sinking ship.

But, because Maguvhe, the final defender of Hlaudi Motsoening, is clinging to the bridge as water sloshes about the deck, the inquiry must go ahead.

The question that must be asked is this: Why did parliament's communications oversight committee, and Communications Minister Faith Muthambi, allow the situation to deteriorate to the level of farce before they acted?

The answer is that they made the political calculation that Motsoening enjoyed the support of a higher power, President Jacob Zuma.

So, instead of acting, they talked about process and procedure and prevaricated about the extent of their powers.

It was only when the ANC's new chief whip, Jackson Mthembu, finally lost his cool with Motsoeneng - pronouncing it a scandal that he continued to be employed, supported by the board - that the committee realised it had misread the tea leaves.

Perhaps No1's power was draining away, perhaps a fresh wind was blowing from somewhere else, somewhere less impressed with the committee's lickspittle stream of apologia.

And so the inquiry was instituted, even as the board disintegrated.

Well, it's never too late to make up for your embarrassing failures, so here's hoping that the committee will finally summon the courage to spell it out: Muthambi, Motsoeneng and the government have failed the country by destroying the public broadcaster.