You're reading it here first.
I can be first to tell you that after an utterly abysmal tenure of eight months as group CEO of the SABC, Solly Mokoetle has just been suspended.
Solly Mokoetle got his marching orders directly from the SABC board who immediately suspended him, after Solly Mokoetle received a letter from the SABC board ordering him to state reasons why he shouldn't be suspended. The SABC will bring formal charges against him shortly.
A massive stand-off has been looming between the SABC board on te one side and Solly Mokoetle on the other. The SABC board blames Solly Mokoetle for the lack of implementing a viable turnaround strategy at the beleaguered South African public broadcaster. There is also the lack of trust after Solly Mokoetle - in accordance with an order given to him by the SABC's chairperson dr Ben Ngubane - went and ''appointed'' Phil Molefe as the SABC's head of news.
Solly Mokoetle's suspension follows that of his precedessor, advocate Dali Mpofu who also got suspended by the SABC board. Robin Nicholson, the SABC's chief financial officer has been instated as acting group CEO in Solly Mokoetle's place. The SABC says that it ''concluded that it would be in the best interest of both the SABC and the group CEO that he be suspended''.
A hearing that will take place after Solly Mokoetle has received formal charges in his disciplinary case, ''will be headed by an independent legal professional,'' says the SABC. ''The SABC board has a number of immediate priorities, among them completion of its annual report,'' says the broadcaster ''that must be presented to parliament shortly. It must also oversee preparation and implementation of a turnaround strategy to enable the SABC to bring to an end to the financial crises that have hounded it for several years.''
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