MEDIA RELEASE11 February 2023Governance gimmicks surface at the SABC as it continues to be Board-lessJOHANNESBURG, 11 February 2023- The SOS Coalition and Media Monitoring Africa (MMA) are appalled and deeply concerned to learn that the Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) has been designated as “the Board”.The Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies (DCDT), Khumbudzo Ntshavheni,announced, after the State of the Nation Address (SONA) (9 February) that, “In terms of the law, theGCEO of the SABC has been designated by the Minister of DCDT with the concurrence of theMinister of Finance as the Board of the SABC.”SOS and MMA believe the decision is unlawful and that the two Ministers exceeded their powers. Ona simple basis of good governance, it cannot surely be legitimate for one individual to be given Boardpowers and make decisions that otherwise require 15 members of which 12 are non-executivemembers. The Broadcasting Act requires non-executive members to have a variety of expertise andexperience ranging from media law, business practice, journalism, entertainment. These skills areessential to ensure that decisions are considered and debated and that all pertinent aspects for therunning of the public broadcaster are taken into consideration. The Minister’s assertion that theGCEO is the Board is at odds with even the most rudimentary elements of governing the SABC.The origin of the apparent decision stems from a meeting with Parliament's Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) on 23 November 2022, where already it was clear that the SABC did not have an accounting authority and the reports indicated that the Ministry was pushing for the appointment of the SABC’s GCEO as the accounting authority pending approval by National Treasury. Needless to say that the more obvious and preferable decision should have been to push for the appointment of the Board. It is the failure by parliament to fulfill its mandate in a timeous manner coupled with the President’s failure to act swiftly to appoint the SABC that has resulted in us being in a scenario where we now must contend with the absurdity of a GCEO being the SABC Board.It is equally alarming that the public learns through an ad hoc interview that “the GCEO is the SABCBoard. The public was not informed of the decision when it was taken and its basis which raisesfurther questions about the decision. The lack of transparency gives credence to rumoured politicalinterference and orchestrated delay tactics in appointing the Board. The objects of the BroadcastingAct 2(n) aim to “ensure that broadcasting services are effectively controlled by South Africans. TheSABC is a public broadcaster that belongs to the people of South Africa,” whom, in this instance havebeen deprived crucial information regarding the appointment of an interim accounting authority.The Broadcasting Act stipulates in section 14 (1)(2) that “the affairs of the Corporation areadministered by an executive committee consisting of the Group Chief Executive Officer, Chiefoperating Officer, Chief Financial Officer and no more than other 11 members. The executivecommittee is accountable to the Board”. In this instance, we have the executive committee beingaccountable to one of its members, who is part of the decision-making body at operational level. Assuch, there is currently no accountability and no oversight at the SABC because the current gimmicksdo not amount to adequate governance.The issues are not merely academic, as we know of at least two key decisions that have been takenin the absence of the SABC Board. These include; a submission pertaining to the Analogue SwitchOff (ASO) date due to the Ministry on 27 January 2023. It is not clear who made the submission andon what basis it be an SABC position when there was no Board. The public then learned of thelaunch of a 24-hour news channel in January 2023.Subsequently, additional questions arise which include: Who oversees the implementation of theactivities? Who is SABC management accountable to? Are the decisions being taken based onresolutions of the previous Board and are they being implemented accordingly without deviation?How valid are these decisions that being made in the absence of a quorate Board (as envisioned bythe Act)? How can government consider its consultation process on analogue switch off to belegitimate when the public broadcaster has no board and basis on which to make a considered andindependent submission? The decision is all the more critical knowing that the SABC is going to begreatly affected by the switch-off? (Particularly its strategic direction on which the Board takes lead),Are Board appointments being delayed tactically to manipulate the CEO to make decisions in favourof government that wouldn’t otherwise be made when there is a Board?The legality of the CEO’s appointment as the SABC BoardThe Public Financial Management Act 49 (2)(b) states that “if the public entity does not have acontrolling body, the chief executive officer or the other person in charge of the public entity is theaccounting authority for the public entity unless specific legislation applicable to that entitydesignates another person as the accounting authority. The Broadcasting Act 13(13) states that “theBoard is the accounting authority of the Corporation”. Nowhere does it make a provision for SABCexecutives to be appointed in the absence of the Board. Thus, we believe the appointment of theGCEO as the accounting authority is illegal and a breach of the Broadcasting Act.SOS and MMA also would also like to understand the basis on which the Ministers are mandated tomake such appointments at the SABC? The Matojane Judgement of 2017 spelled out the criticalimportance of the independence of the SABC Board and the role and limitation of the Minister ofDCDT in seeking to interfere with the running of the SABC. All such powers are clearly conferred tothe SABC Board. We note further that the Broadcasting Act has designated the President as theappointing authority of the Board. Assuming it was legal, which we dispute, to appoint the GCEO asthe accounting authority in the interim it could only be the President who could stipulate that theGCEO could act as interim accounting authority with Board powers.SOS and MMA repeat their call for the President to appoint the SABC Board. Last month, PresidentRamaphosa indicated that he was seeking legal opinion on objections that implicate tworecommended candidates. Seven (7) weeks have passed since the President received therecommended names on 20 December 2022. We ask that the President proceeds to makeappointments of the 10 candidates that aren’t implicated as the Board would still quorate. Section13(10) of the Act states that “nine members of the Board which must include a chairperson ordeputy chairperson will constitute a quorum at any meeting of the Board.It is unacceptable to have the SABC be without a Board for more than 16 weeks. The vacuum createdby the absence of a Board is causing further damage and deepening an entirely preventable crisis.SOS and MMA demand the urgent appointment of the SABC Board - in the public interest.SOS and MMA are currently taking legal advice and will act on an urgent basis if necessary. For more information contact:Uyanda Siyotula (SOS Coalition)National Coordinator060 691 2462William Bird (MMA)Director082 887 1370