D-Day for public to comment on CVs of shortlisted candidates for SABC board

Thursday  is the deadline for members of the public to comment on the CVs of the 37 shortlisted candidates who were interviewed for the positions of SABC board members.

This forms part of the process to search for the most suitable candidates to serve on the board.

The Sub-Committee of Parliament’s Communications Committee conducted its interviews with all shortlisted candidates last week Tuesday to Friday.

The shortlisted candidates were selected from 120-nominations.

Only 12 of the 37 candidates who were interviewed will be recommended after rigorous deliberations by the Sub-Committee next week.

The public has until the end of business today to comment on the CVs of each candidate.

The CVs are already published on the Parliament’s website.

As of Thursday, the outgoing SABC Board only has 23 days left before the five year term of office comes to an end on 15 October.

Shortlisted candidates:

Interviews

Last week, a sub-committee of Parliament’s Communications Portfolio Committee interviewed 37 shortlisted candidates for the new SABC Board members.

Three current board members were interviewed first. They were grilled about the broadcaster’s finances, last year’s retrenchment process and the sacking of the former head of News and Current Affairs, Phathiswa Magopeni.

The Deputy Chairperson of the Board, Mamodupi Mohlala-Mulaudzi, was asked about a forensic report at the Property Practitioners Regulatory Authority that had damning findings against her, as well as allegations that she has moonlighted for a telecommunications company while working at the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa).

She responded by saying,  “These allegations highly improper will write to HRC (Human Rights Commission) and Gender Commission as black woman executive being treated differently. Even people on that board have findings against them and it has never been made public. In my case, it’s worse because I was not given the opportunity to respond.”

Another current member of the board, David Maimela, defended the retrenchment of more than 600 staffers last year, while close to 400 posts are now being advertised.

“I still think this was a rational decision. Many people misunderstand this but you can retrench and advertise again, because its new operating model, needs new skills, nothing wrong. It helps you to be more agile, more capable, understand the industry better and compete better,” says Maimela.

However judging, the success of the retrenchment process needs more time, according to Jack Phalane.

“Our expenses are high, the biggest cost was salaries, after retrenchments…its key to say we have the structure we believe is good. For me, now it’s implementation time. It makes no sense to release experienced people and then replace them with people who don’t know what they’re doing. Are people we have, doing what they are supposed to be doing?” asks Phalane.

After concluding the process of interviews, the names of the successful candidates will be tabled in Parliament and then sent to the President for an appointment.

VIDEO: SABC board candidates interviews

Additional reporting by Zalene Merrington.