CWU STATEMENT ON ALLEGATIONS OF FALSIFICATION OF QUALIFICATIONS BY THE SABC BOARD CHAIRPERSON 15th July 2014 The Communication Workers Union (CWU) is shocked by the latest revelation of a scandal involving a high-ranking individual at the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC). The report in the City Press newspaper of the 13th July 2014 alleging that the board chairperson of the SABC Ms Zandile Tshabalala fabricated her CV by lying to parliament’s portfolio committee on communications that she holds a degree and a senior diploma from UNISA, which the latter has reportedly refuted, is quite alarming to say the least. CWU is acutely mindful of the provision in the Broadcasting Act, No.4 of 1999 that “…members of the Board must, when viewed collectively- (a) be persons who are suited to serve on the Board by virtue of their qualifications, expertise and experience in the fields of broadcasting policy and technology,…”. However, a deliberate fabrication of a qualification is in our view a gross misrepresentation of facts by somebody who aspired to serve at a higher level and would imply she has misled parliament. If found to be true, this misrepresentation will without doubt further tarnish the image and reputation of the public broadcaster which is of late in the habit of being in the news for the wrong reasons and will worsen the existing poor public image of the SABC coming not so long after the PriceWaterhouseCoopers’ skills audit which found that 60% of SABC executives did not meet the minimum requirements for strategic thinking and leadership in their work. It is our conviction that the SABC board and its chairperson must be seen to be leading by example in the drive to extricate the institution from its current sorry state of affairs characterized by crisis after crisis which is brought about by sheer maladministration and lack of good governance. Those at the helm must provide credible and honest leadership if the SABC is to turn a new leaf and gain the confidence and trust of the South African people as a public broadcaster capable of providing information, educational programming and entertainment effectively and in line with its legislative mandate. For this reason, CWU calls upon the Minister of Communications to immediately institute an inquiry into these media allegations of lying about qualifications by the SABC Board Chairperson which if found true constitute a serious crime of fraud and must lead to corrective measures against any wrongdoing. Issued by: Communication Workers Union Inquiries: Thabo Mogalane, Acting General Secretary,
Posted on: Tue, 15 Jul 2014 10:19:03 +0000