Chairperson of the Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Communications Boyce Maneli has confirmed that one of the 12 final candidates for the position has pulled out citing personal reasons.
He could not divulge the name of the candidate who withdrew. Maneli spoke to the SABC News during the committee’s oversight visit at the public broadcaster’s headquarters in Johannesburg on Thursday.
The committee says it understands that the process to appoint a board has taken long enough. And the delays have now resulted in one of the members pulling out. But the process is ongoing, and the public can expect an announcement soon.
Maneli says this will likely cause further delay. “One of the 12 that was there has indicated for personal reasons that are compelling that is no longer available and if you were to follow it to the latter it, therefore, says you have to restart the process of filling that vacancy.”
On the other hand, the committee says it is impressed with the new digital broadcasting platforms that the SABC recently launched.
“We are also quite fascinated by the digital platforms that? From the SABC has tried to look at and we think we can improve from them,” Maneli elaborates.
In December last year, the former Minister of Communications Khumbudzo Ntshavheni announced that the 31st of March 2023 is gazetted as the new deadline for the county’s digital migration process.
However, there are concerns that the deadline could be extended. The new Minister of Communications and Digital Technology Mondli Gungubele is expected to brief the media sometime next week to outline his plans on digital migration and analogue switch-off.
