ANC chief whip defends parliament as pressure mounts over SABC board delay

As pressure mounts on President Cyril Ramaphosa over his delay in appointing a new SABC board, ANC chief whip Pemmy Majodina has defended the process followed by parliament in selecting candidates for the board.

National Assembly speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula confirmed to the assembly’s programming committee on Thursday that the three additional names parliament provided to Ramaphosa had caused confusion and contributed to the delay.

But Majodina said it was common for the legislature to nominate additional candidates in the event of someone on the shortlist no longer being available for appointment.

She said the delay in appointing the board has put parliament under the spotlight “as if we have not done our work”.

“I’m not a legal guru, but this is not for the first time where there are a number of names that we are supposed to send to the president. We give a (reserve) pool so that should there be any eventuality, we must not re-advertise again because it takes time,” said Majodina.

“We did that in the NYDA (National Youth Development Agency) process, we did that in the CGE (Commission for Gender Equality) process. We did not see anything untoward when we did that and passed that report on December 6 because we were trying to manage time and to be sensitive to financial implications that will cost parliament and cause delays,” she added.

She said even if parliament's legal team agreed with the president that it was not correct for parliament to send additional names, “we did that for a good purpose”.

EFF MP Hlengiwe Mkhaliphi asked Mapisa-Nqakula for clarity about the delay in the appointment of the board saying this had a negative impact on governance at the broadcaster.  

Mapisa-Nqakula confirmed that after the candidates were approved by the house on December 6, she sent the report to Ramaphosa for their appointment. Ramaphosa, in writing, sought clarity on matters of vetting and on the additional three names.

Two separate letters were sent, the committee heard.

“It turns out that parliament should not have given itself a discretion to provide an extra list of names. As a result of that, that matter is with the chairperson of the committee for them to provide the speaker with guidance.”

Mapisa-Nqakula said legal opinion from parliament’s chief legal adviser Zuraya Adhikarie said it was enough for the committee to provide the list of 12 and not the extra list from which the president should select members for the board.

Presenting the report to the house in December, chair of the portfolio committee on communications and digital technologies Boyce Maneli asked that the house approve the three additional candidates, Zolani Matthews, Palesa Kadi and Quentin Green as the reserve pool to be considered for appointment, “in case of any eventuality given the time it has taken to conclude the SABC board appointment process”.

His committee is tasked, by law, with the recruitment process including interviewing potential candidates for the board and making recommendations to the house.

At the weekend, the Sunday Times reported that civil society body Media Monitoring Africa (MMA) has taken Ramaphosa to the Constitutional Court on an urgent basis asking it to compel him to appoint a board.

His spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said there were issues that were identified as being “misaligned” with the Broadcasting Act and clarity had to be sought from the National Assembly.

Magwenya said in response to the MMA court papers, Ramaphosa will detail all those issues and demonstrate that he acted in accordance with his constitutional obligations by seeking clarity on issues that would have undermined the integrity of the process.

The names of Renee Horne, Tseliso Thipanyane, Khathutshelo Ramukumba, Franz Krüger, Nomvuyiso Batyi, Phathiswa Magopeni, Aifheli Makhwanya, Magdalene Moonsamy, Rearabetsoe Motaung, David Maimela, Dinkwanyane Mohuba and Mpho Tsedu were sent to Ramaphosa for appointment.

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