The IFP has welcomed the resignation of Professor Mbulaheni Maguvhe, chairperson of the SABC Board and the only remaining non-executive SABC Board member today, although it was long overdue.
Prof Maguvhe leaves a legacy of destruction at the SABC. Under his stewardship, the SABC limped from one crisis to the next. He and his fellow board members turned a blind eye while journalists were harassed for doing their jobs, some even facing death threats.
Under his tenure as Board Chairperson, the SABC also implemented unthinkably deplorable decisions such the implementation of the censorship policy and further financial mismanagement, while he allowed the unfettered abuse of power by Mr Hlaudi Motsoeneng, who held many positions at the SABC illegally.
It was clear during the recent Parliamentary hearings that Professor Maguvhe did not have much of a grasp of the critical issues that plague the public broadcaster, but that he was clinging to his position possibly at the behest of Mr Hlaudi Motsoeneng and other senior politicians.
His decision to run to Court to try and stop the Ad Hoc Committee’s investigation into the crisis at the SABC will also be remembered as not only a waste of the Court and Parliament’s time and resources, but yet another ill-thought through decision on his part.
But it is important to remember how Prof Maguvhe was appointed. Prof Maguvhe was appointed to the Board through a flawed Parliamentary process that is meant to find the most qualified, most competent and most passionate South Africans to run the affairs of the public broadcaster, but which is abused by the ruling party as an opportunity to appoint ANC cadres to the Board. I was there when Prof Maguvhe was appointed to the Board. He clearly lacked the necessary experience but because he had the backing of the ruling party, his appointment was cast in stone.
If this flawed parliamentary process is not changed and fixed, unfortunately, the next process that Parliament embarks on will deliver yet another politically-compromised Board. Unless we completely remove political interference from the appointment of Boards and the affairs of the SABC, the public broadcaster will continue to falter.
We know that Prof Maguvhe’s departure will not fix the crisis at the SABC. It is only a small step in the right direction. But with his departure, and the fall of yet another entirely dysfunctional SABC Board, we hope that a new era of transparency and good governance will finally arrive at the SABC in 2017. We must restore the SABC to a public broadcaster that South Africans can once more trust and respect.
Issued By:
Ms Liezl van der Merwe MP
IFP Whip and Spokesperson on Communications
082 729 2510