Dear Editor, The recent permanent appointment of Mr. Motsoeneng by the SABC Board, and the subsequent involvement of a Communications Minister on the saga, brings with serious concerns about a failure to implement proper management processes in State Entities and Political leadership in general. Notwithstanding the fact that the SABC Board had yet to implement or respond effectively to the damning findings from the Public Protector on the suitability of Mr. Motsoeneng. The Board chose to sponsor an investigation by hiring a legal firm, which surely didnt come for free. This Legal firm seems to have cleared Mr. Motsoeneng, according to the Minister, but we are not told when the Board will respond to other issues that the Public Protector raised about the SABC management. It is important to stress, that Mr. Motsoeneng was appointed without the post having been advertised, and with no interview process of potential candidates even from SABC staff. The fact that there was no panel of potential candidates meant that Board members will now have the double-role of suggesting candidates and still be able to provide a balanced secondment of the COO. How can SABC Board members be expected to discuss and conclude a fair employment process of a COO if candidates came from them? I ask... As if this situation was not bad, it has now come to our attention that the Chairman/Chairperson of this SABC Board misrepresented her qualifications. I ask, how can we expect the SABC to take us, the public to its confidence, if Board members are unable to tell the difference between the Truth and a Lie. How many such instances will we be exposed to if Board members have the courage to lie about their qualifications and yet expect us to trust them with running a public broadcaster? No wonder the Chairperson didnt see anything wrong with Mr. Motsoenengs own lie about having Matric certificate! The new Minister of Communications, Faith Muthambi, should not have called members of the SABC Board to a meeting. She should not have been even closer to their meeting venue, let alone the influence/pressure she exerted on them to conclude the appointment of SABC COO. It is puzzling and difficult to even understand why she felt like acting in that manner. Her involvement was both rushed, irrational and a miscalculated gamble and reckless. This rush appointment of SABC COO without following due process, [i.e. advertise a position, shortlist candidates, and chose the best of the lot], showed a total disregard for our concerns as citizens as well as the report from the Public Protector. What is even worse is that the Minister has a support staff, which I believe is made of capable individuals [public servants] with key areas of expertise from Legal, HR to Communications. Yet she went on to consult the President, who is not an expert on all of these areas, and would like to rely on that consultation to legitimize her decision. Thats absolutely not acceptable! Even if I were to be appointed tonight as Minister of Communications, id be in a much better position to know how a person gets appointed, and what process to follow. After all, how will a Minister act as mediator if her/himself is involved in this illegitimate appointment of the COO? I support any initiative to stop this madness, and to get the process of advertising this position on the roll as soon as possible. In this regard I beg of us all not to miss the target, lets focus on SABC Board and a legally sound appointment process. This should also include removing the current SABC Board Chairman/Chairperson. I write this as a citizen, tax-paying, and Proudly SA
Posted on: Wed, 16 Jul 2014 10:43:46 +0000
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