The SABC in chaos & crisis: The biggest crisis the embattled and directionless South African Broadcasting Corporation has ever faced continues - without any leadership and instead with more added drama and controversy heaped as further fuel onto the raging fire which is the SABC's top management in meltdown.
Utter chaos and a total corporate governance collapse is reigning at the public broadcaster with the minister of communications, Dina Pule, who made further shocking remarks to add to the confusion and scandal at the broadcaster shen she told SABC radio in an interview that the matricless Hlaudi Motsoeneng who was removed as acting chief operating officer (COO) will remain in the position.
Shortly after her remarks, the SABC board fought back with the response that "the decision to remove Hlaudi Motsoeneng stands".
Complete confusion and massive uncertainty reigns at Africa's last remaining so-called "public broadcaster" as state control is clearly tightening over the SABC where over the past two years, the long-suspected but never overt, government control became sharply evident in the SABC's management and broadcasting decisions.
The SABC is mired in a vicious and very public top level power battle and tug-of-war. The hugest crises the SABC ever faced was triggered 3 weeks ago when the SABC board, through a consensus decision removed the matricless enfant terrible Hlaudi Motsoeneng from his position of acting chief operating officer (COO). He was replaced by Mike Siluma.
Three days later Mike Siluma resigned. Other SABC board members - such as SABC chairperson dr. Ben Ngubane and deputy chairperson Thami ka Plaatjie - were then involved in unilaterally "reinstating" Hlaudi Motsoeneng.
The SABC board publicly rebuked dr Ben Ngubane who has been described as "autocratic" and "patriarcal" in his leadership style and tenure and said dr. Ben Ngubane and Thami Ka Plaatjie don't have the authority to make such a unilateral decision.
This past Sunday dr. Ben Ngubane and deputy chairperson Thami Ka Plaatjie both quit.
Now Dina Pule, herself mired in scandals, told SABC radio that the matricless Hlaudi Motsoeneng remains in the position of acting COO at the SABC because the SABC board was not properly constituted when it met.
The SABC board shot back and said the decision to terminate the matricless Hlaudi Motsoeneng as acting COO "stands".
"The board meeting [on 25 February] was properly constituted and the decision to release Hlaudi Motsoeneng from acting chief operating officer stands," says the SABC board.
Why Dina Pule as a state minister is interfering with the SABC board's decisions is not clear, nor why she had a long meeting with dr. Ben Ngubane and Thami Ka Plaatjie and asked them to reconsider not quitting.
The SABC is a public broadcaster and not a state broadcaster and therefore answers to parliament and falls under the oversight of parliament's portfolio committee of communications - not the department of communications or a government department.
The SABC board is now unable to meet because it no longer has the necessary number of members following the resignation of dr. Ben Ngubane and Thami Ka Plaatjie.
