Business Report
*MPs want answers on SABC'S Molefe appointment** **Janine Stephen, Political Bureau, Business Report, Johannnesburg, 25 May 2010*
MPs want answers while Communications Minister Siphiwe Nyanda says he will intervene to resolve the standoff sparked by the controversial appointment of SABC head of news.
National Assembly's communications portfolio committee chairman Ismail Vadi said on Monday that he was "very concerned" by events that have seen almost all board members revolt against their chairman Ben Ngubane's apparently unilateral decision to appoint Phil Molefe as news chief. Parties have called for Vadi to summon Ngubane to face the MPs.
Vadi said that '"at some point", the committee would want a full, formal report from both the board and the chairperson about the process followed.
"It is certainly in the public interest....The head of news is a very senior appointment; it has always been a politically sensitive appointment, and it is absolutely important that proper procedures are followed when such an important appointment is made. Otherwise it opens up the board to all sorts of speculation which does not inspire confidence," he said.
Nyanda told Independent Newspapers that as soon as he comes back from his overseas trip, he would call all SABC stakeholders to resolve the issues that has so far polarised the board, management and staff members at the broadcaster.
The DA has said in a statement that it would formally request that the board appear before the committee to account, while ID leader Patricia de Lille on Monday also stated they would ask Vadi to summon Ngubane to "to explain his sudden flouting of due process".
De Lille welcomed the board's decision to overturn Molefe's appointment, but said "this does not absolve the chairperson of the board".
The IFP's Musa Zondi had also called on Ngubane "to come clean on the latest crisis within the SABC" and explain to the public what processes were followed. "We need assurance that this wasn't another political appointment," Zondi said in a statement.
Vadi noted that while he was aware of the press statements, he had not yet received formal requests from the political parties to summon the board or its chairperson to a meeting.
He said that the matter might be discussed informally at a scheduled meeting of the committee later today (Tuesday) should parties request it.
Cosatu and the Save Our SABC Coalition last week demanded an investigation into how Molefe could have been appointed without the board's approval.
Communication Worker's Union, one of the biggest unions at SABC, said yesterday (Monday) it was "jubilant" about the SABC board's "speedy intervention" in reversing the "illegal appointment of Phil Molefe by Ben Ngubane".
"This gesture will remind the honourable doctor that filling vacancies of this nature should be a product of extensive board deliberations," the CWU said.
Meanwhile, a source on Monday complained of interference in the SABC's radio news coverage of stories relating to Molofe's appointment.
In an SMS said to have been sent to SABC editors, Molefe is alleged to have said that comment on the appointment should only be sourced from Ngubane or the group chief executive, Solly Mokoetle.
Mokoetle and Ngubane are the only board members who approved Molefe's appointment.
Two sources noted that on Monday, radio news stories that had quoted sources critical of the appointment were cancelled, or taken off air after they were flighted for several bulletins.
One story was flagged "do not use" after it gave views to commentators and unionists critical of the appointment.
Molefe is currently in China and attempts to contact him were unsuccessful.SABC spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago last night said he was unable to comment on the allegations of interference in news broadcasts.
*From: http://www.busrep.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=566&fArticleId=5484877 <http://www.busrep.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=566&fArticleId=5484877>*
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