The Times
*Mtimde asserts neutrality* *Thabo Mokone, The Times, Johannesburg, 19 January 2011*Lumko Mtimde, CEO of the Media Development and Diversity Agency, has told parliament that his being a member of the ANC will not interfere with his job as a board member of the SABC, should he be appointed.
Mtimde, also a member of the SA Communist Party, was one of five short-listed candidates interviewed yesterday by the portfolio committee on communications.
DA MP Natasha Michaels and COPE MP Phillip Dexter suggested to Mtimde that he might abuse an SABC position to advance the interests of the ANC and SACP.
Mtimde rejected this: "My record speaks for itself; I have been a member of the leadership and governance of independent bodies since 1998, from independent broadcasting authority Icasa to the MDDA.
"My application of the principles of the law has not been questioned, throughout my more than 10 years experience in this regard."
In a newspaper opinion piece last year, Mtimde outlined his support for the ANC's proposed Media Appeals Tribunal.
However, John Danana, another ANC member vying for a position on the SABC board, told MPs he believed the proposed tribunal was ill-conceived.
"We live in a world where there's Facebook [and] Twitter, and the internet goes beyond everything.
"You can stop it here but there's going to be a flood which comes from the other side so the idea of a tribunal probably is going to be dying a natural death some time or later because it was an issue which was motivated by the heat of a moment," said Danana.
Professor Vishnu Padayachee, a former member of the Reserve Bank board and current head of the development studies at the University of Kwazulu-Natal, said he was not a politically active individual but had once belonged to the ANC.
*From: http://www.timeslive.co.za/local/article860993.ece/Mtimde-asserts-neutrality*
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