Wednesday, March 19, 2014

BREAKING. The SABC without a CEO is unable and unwilling to say who is acting as CEO at the South African public broadcaster.


More than half a month after Lulama Mokhobo has been gone at the end of February, after dumping the SABC as SABC CEO, the South African public broadcaster is unable and unwilling to say who the acting CEO is of the rudderless corporation.

The SABC without a CEO is also a flagrant transgression of South Africa's Broadcasting Act.

The SABC is refusing to answer basic media enquiries asking who is acting as CEO at the struggling public broadcaster which lost yet another CEO - its fifth - in as many years.

Meanwhile controversy is swirling around the SABC's second highest executive, the famously matricless acting chief operating officer (COO) Hlaudi Motsoeneng who in a recorded interview with the Public Protector admitted he lied about having matric and made up fake matric symbols.

A month has lapsed since the release of the report and the SABC and the SABC board has not removed nor suspended Hlaudi Motsoeneng.

The SABC has not responded to a media enquiry asking what actions the SABC or the SABC board has taken the past month over a scathing independent PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) report revealing a lack of skills at the SABC, as well as the Public Protector's report revealing abuse of power, maladministration, fraud and corruption at the SABC.

Asked who is leading the SABC as acting CEO, the SABC told TV with Thinus that "an official communique will be released, until then there will be no further comment".

The SABC isn't saying when it will release this "communique" and isn't able or willing to answer a basic question regarding corporate governance at the public broadcaster which keeps being rocked by management scandals.

"Currently the SABC is without a CEO, which is unacceptable, irresponsible and a transgression of the Broadcasting Act," says the two trade unions Bemawu and the CWU.

It also appears that the SABC wants to place an SABC board member in charge of the broadcaster by having a board member act as acting CEO.

Bemawu and the CWU warn that if the SABC does this, it will be "in conflict with the corporate governance principles, since SABC board members are not employees of the SABC, and as such do not qualify to fill positions of executives in whatever capacity".