Cape Town - President Cyril Ramaphosa has finally appointed the long-awaited non-executive members of the board of directors for the public broadcaster, the SABC, for five years.
Ramaphosa designated one of the new board members, Khathutshelo Ramukumba, as chairperson, and Nomvuyiso Batyi as deputy chairperson.
Other board members are Renée Horne, Tseliso Thipanyane, Phathiswa Magopeni, Aifheli Makhwanya, Magdalene Moonsamy, Rearabetsoe Motaung, David Maimela, Dinkwanyane Mohuba, Mpho Tsedu and Palesa Kadi.
“The SABC is a vital institution of our constitutional democracy. I trust the newly appointed board members will work hard at ensuring that South Africa continues to benefit from a stable, independent and effective national public broadcaster,” Ramaphosa said.
The appointment of the board was delayed after Ramaphosa wrote to National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula late last month, seeking clarity on the vetting of the nominees and why there were additional candidates to choose from.
The public broadcaster has been without a board after the term of the previous board came to an end on October 15. The move had prompted the SABC to approach the National Treasury to seek authorisation to designate its group chief executive, Madoda Mxakwe, as the accounting authority in the absence of the board.
This was despite the National Assembly having recommended 12 persons to serve on the board, including three names on the reserve list.
This was after the communications and digital technologies portfolio committee had conducted interviews after short-listing 37 names from 120 nominations.
The committee was able to make its recommendation in November due to incomplete security vetting that was only concluded on November 21.
When Ramaphosa sought clarity on the vetting and the reserve list of nominees, this sparked fury from civil society and in political parties, with questions asked as to why he had taken four months to refer the matter back to the committee.
There were reports suggesting that there were attempts to have Magopeni, a former SABC news executive, overlooked in the appointment.
Ramaphosa’s questions led to Mapisa-Nqakula referring the matter to the portfolio committee for consideration. The portfolio committee had sought a legal opinion.
Last week, Mapisa-Nqakula said she had confirmed that the resolution adopted by the National Assembly last year was lawful. She also said Ramaphosa was not precluded from selecting a candidate from the reserve pool of three names in case any of the 12 names were not legally appointable.
In his appointment, Ramaphosa appointed Kadi on the reserve list in place of Franz Kruger, who made up the names of 12 members recommended by the National Assembly.
DA MP Diane Barnard Kohler said Ramaphosa gave in to the pressure from the DA, Parliament and civil society after “deliberately delaying the appointment for as long as he could”.
“Parliament voted and agreed unanimously to the list of candidates on December 6, 2022, and the president continued to delay the process for a further 133 days without any legal entitlement to do so.
“It is because of this delay that he currently finds himself front and centre of a Constitutional Court application by civil society for failing to perform his Constitutional duties,” Barnard Kohler said.
She also said Ramaphosa and former communication and digital technologies minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni had a dislike of Magopeni.
“The DA wishes them luck in their future endeavours, and hopes they manage to turn this loss-leader into the public broadcaster it is supposed to be.”
Cape Times