New SABC board has urgent problems to fix

President Cyril Ramaphosa has finally appointed a new SABC board, a full six months after the term of the previous board came to an end on 15 October last year.

According to the presidency, Khathutshelo Ramukumba has been appointed chair and Nomvuyiso Batyi as deputy chair of the board.

Ramaphosa was taken to court by the non-profit Media Monitoring Africa (MMA) on 24 February after failing to appoint the SABC board for months. MMA was forced to take the legal route because it had exhausted all available avenues, including writing to the president, according to its director, William Bird.

“Each day that goes by without a board, the proper functioning of the public broadcaster is jeopardised, which in turn threatens the functioning of our constitutional democracy. We have thus been left with no choice but to bring an urgent application to the constitutional court for an order compelling the president to fulfil this obligation diligently,” Bird said at the time.

Now that a new board has been announced, Bird told TechCentral that he is “massively relieved”. However, it is a pity it didn’t happen earlier. “Now [the new board members] will be in for a real baptism of fire. They will be dealing with a handover report that’s six months old and advertising for new members for their senior team.”

Bird said the finances of the SABC were already perilous six months ago and would now be more difficult to deal with. “They will probably have to apply to the minister for a bailout. Add to that the move to analogue and the subsequent loss of audience that will affect advertising. Don’t forget the SABC is 80% funded by commercial revenue,” he said. “They will have to come together as a board urgently and reassert their independence.”

Fish that swims

Michael Markovitz, a former board member and now head of the media leadership think-tank at Gibs, said that although he was obviously glad that a board had been appointed, he was “not going to praise a fish for swimming”.

Exactly why the board has been appointed at this juncture is not clear, he said, since there was never any lawful reason for the delay. But he did attribute some of the success to the fact that there has been intense public pressure on the president to deal with the situation. “We’ve kept it in the public eye because the delays were damaging and unlawful,” Markovitz said.

Read: SABC finances deteriorating as audiences go elsewhere

“Parliament must also look to itself for its role in the delay since it was two months after the previous board’s term expired that the names were even sent to the president. There’s really no reason for a delay this long.”

Markovitz said a detailed handover report was left by the previous board, with many of the issues mentioned still pressing and relevant. “Succession planning for top executives was one of these issues, as the group CEO and chief financial officer’s contracts will expire in June. There’s also the analogue switch-off and the complaint before the Competition Commission on alleged anticompetitive conduct by MultiChoice.”

He also wondered how the SABC had been operating financially since 31 March, since without a board no budget could be approved. As a result, one of the new board’s immediate priorities will be to consider and approve a corporate plan including budgets for the new financial year which started on 1 April. The board will also require a full report from the executive directors on their activities and decisions in the last six months without the oversight of a board.

In his statement on the board’s appointment, Ramaphosa said: “The SABC is a vital institution of our constitutional democracy. I trust the newly appointed board members will work hard at ensuring that South Africa continues to benefit from a stable, independent and effective national public broadcaster.”

The newly appointed board members are: Renee Horne, Tseliso Thipanyane, Khathutshelo Ramukumba, Nomvuyiso Batyi, Phathiswa Magopeni, Aifheli Makhwanya, Magdalene Moonsamy, Rearabetsoe Motaung, David Maimela, Dinkwanyane Mohuba and Mpho Tsedu.  — © 2023 NewsCentral Media

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