Business Day
*SABC board ‘in the dark’ on news chief* *Chantelle Benjamin, Business Day, Johannesburg, 21 May 2010*SABC chairman Ben Ngubane and CEO Solly Mokoetle came under fire yesterday for appointing Phil Molefe as group executive of news and current affairs without consulting the board.
Despite the appointment of a new board and chairman, many of the communication problems and power disputes that plagued the SABC apparently remain.
Allegations surfaced yesterday that Ngubane and Mokoetle had made a number of decisions without consulting the board, and that Molefe’s appointment was “the last straw”.
Neither Ngubane nor SABC spokesman Kaizer Kganyago replied to requests for comment.
Board member David Niddrie, when approached yesterday about Molefe’s appointment, said: “What appointment?
“The board has not made an appointment, and its the board’s appointment to make.”
It is understood that a panel appointed by the board interviewed the candidates, and was due to go back to it on June 3 for discussion. The media statement yesterday from Mokoetle came as a surprise to board members. A member of the board’s appointment panel, Cedric Gina, confirmed yesterday that no candidate had been recommended to the board and/or voted on.
Gina said the panel met the CEO this week, and asked him to look into restructuring the newsroom. They were to discuss this and candidates for the post on June 3.
Congress of South African Trade Unions spokesman Patrick Craven called yesterday for a copy of the minutes of the board meeting, where the decision to appoint Molefe was taken, to be made public. “We would like to know who appointed him,” said Craven. “We were informed that the board had not yet made a decision.”
Molefe has served as acting head of news since May last year, when he replaced Snuki Zikalala. He is also head of international affairs.
Molefe was seen by some as soft on politicians, and the Communication Workers Union accused him recently of maintaining Zikalala’s management style by quashing opposition when he suspended news anchor Mahendra Raghunath.
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