SABC IN CHAOS & CRISIS: 6 FURTHER SABC BOARD RESIGNATIONS ROCK BROADCASTER IN MELTDOWN.

The SABC in chaos & crisis: 6 further SABC board members have resigned as the struggling public broadcaster is continuing the biggest public meltdown in top executive ranks the South African Broadcasting Corporation has ever seen.

SABC board members Lumko Mtide, John Danana, Cedric Gina, Desmond Golding, Adv. Cawe Mahlati and Noluthando Gosa has now all quit and sent resignation letters and are following the SABC chairperson dr.Ben Ngubane and deputy chairperson Thami Ka Plaatjie out the door.

"President Jacob Zuma has received six more letters of resignation from members of the South African Broadcasting Corporation," says the office of the presidency in a just-issued statement.

"The president has accepted their resignations."

The office of the presidency says "the president has requested the minister of communications, Dina Pule, to liaise with the national assembly regarding the process to fill the vacancies left by the members who have resigned."

The SABC has now been truly plunged into the biggest executive and management chaos and crisis the broadcaster has ever experienced.

The SABC board - what's left of it can't function or meet, there is no clarity on whether the matricless Hlaudi Motsoeneng is or isn't still the acting chief operating officer (COO) - his removal by the SABC of which instigated the crisis and plunged the broadcaster into the meltdown it's experiencing.

With six of the nine last remaining SABC board members now also gone, only three SABC board members are left. The SABC is now functioning without any governing body.

BREAKING. Auditor-general to now investigate the fractious SABC board paralysed by bitter infighting over months.

The auditor-general (AG) is now going to investigate the fractious SABC board, derailed after months of bitter infighting between board members accusing each other of corruption and mismanagement and paralysing decision making within SABC top ranks.

The acrimonious infighting between the SABC board and SABC board member Cawe Mahlati will now be investigated by the AG, with parliament's portfolio committee on communications who has decided to ask the AG to investigate the SABC board.

In September the SABC board chairperson dr Ben Ngubane shocked parliament when he announced that the SABC has "degenerted into serious dysfunctionality". He revealed that the entire SABC board has unanimously passed a vote of no confidence in Cawe Mahlati and wants her gone. Cawe Mahlati has refused to step down.

In a highly embarrassing public spectacle on 18 September with the whole SABC board in parliament, Cawe Mahlati lashed back in parliament against "the rampant maladministration and corruption in the SABC board" under the "autocratic and patriarchal" leadership style of dr Ben Ngubane.

Now the portfolio committee on communications, which had to decide what course of action to take next, unanimously decided to get the help of the auditor-general in to probe the SABC board which is once again seen as not providing any effective leadership. In the SABC's latest annual report, the SABC missed most of its set strategic objectives.

According to Eric Kholwane, chairperson of the portfolio commitee on communications, the comittee could recommend that Cawe Mahlati be removed from the SABC board, depending on the outcome of the AG's findings.

BREAKING. Cawe Mahlati is the ONLY SABC board member who has, after more than a year, still not declared any outside interests.

You're reading it here first. 

Cawekazi Mahlati, known as Cawe Mahlati, is the ONLY current SABC board member who has, after more than a year, not yet declared her outside interest.

"The only person who have not declared outside interests is advocate Cawe Mahlati," the SABC's company secretary just told parliament's portfolio committee on communications. Cawe Mahlati who was out of the country last week, is sitting in parliament today herself.

Cawe Mahlati was appointed as an SABC board member in June 2011.

The SABC board of course - in the tumultuous inside politics once again at play behind the scenes -  unanimously passed a vote of no confidence in Cawe Mahlati in August, and they all want her gone from the SABC board.


ALSO READ: SABC in bitter sparring in parliament: ''Rampant maladministration and corruption in the SABC board," says Cawe Mahlati, a SABC board member.

BREAKING. SABC board has 'degenerated into serious dysfunctionality', SABC board chairperson dr Ben Ngubane tells parliament.

The SABC board has "degenerated into serious dysfunctionality," the SABC board chairperson, dr Ben Ngubane has told parliament, pleading with the government to remove SABC board member Cawekazi Mahlati.

According to previous reports Cawekazi Mahlati, and again reiterated by dr Ben Ngubane to parliament's portfolio committee on communications yesterday, are allegedly a highly disruptive force in SABC board meetings and beyond.

Last month both the SABC board and the Communication Workers Union (CWU) indicated they want Cawe Mahlati gone - both passed a motion of no confidence in her. Cawekazi Mahlati allegedly tried to obtain tenders from the public broadcaster according to the SABC board and the CWU.

"It's a sad matter this; we thought we had turned the corner at the SABC, but the SABC board has degenerated into serious dysfunctionality, because one board member continuously attacks the company secretary and continuously attacks other board members,'" dr Ben Ngubane told parliament.

Dr Ben Ngubane told parliament that Cawekazi Mahlati campaigned for the removal of the acting chief operating officer (COO) Hlaudi Motsoeneng because he was blocking the processing of a tender she appeared to have had an interest in. "The minutes would show that this board member was punting Atos as a supplier, which would have cost us R500 million outside of proper tender procedures," said dr Ben Ngubane.

"There have been serious breaches of order at board meetings,so another two sets of votes of no confidence [in Cawe Mahlati] were taken," said dr. Ben Ngubane.

"This board is going to be highly dysfunctional as long as this member continues to be given the freedom to do what she wants," he said. He told parliament that the SABC board unanimously wants Cawekazi Mahlati gone and for parliament's portfolio committee on communications to suspend her and for the matter to be investigated.

Cawekazi Mahlati couldn't be reached for comment.

Mwasa says if SABC board doesn't pull itself together, 'it will never redeem its long lost integrity'.

The Media Workers Association of South Africa (Mwasa) in a statement, says that if the SABC board doesn't pull itself together, "it will never redeem its long lost integrity".

The statement comes after the news that the SABC board has passed a motion of no confidence in the SABC board member Cawe Mahlati, which the Communication Workers' Union (CWU) wants to be removed from her position as well.

Mwasa says in the statement that "the SABC board seems to have other priorities than to provide thought-leadership both within the SABC itself across the sector and most of all even as a corporate citizen".

Blasting the SABC board and the leadership of dr Ben Ngubane, the SABC board chairperson, Mwasa says "it is obscene that such mediocrity and seamless shenanigans continue to define the tenure of this SABC board and little public value is realised since taking office. This SABC board has not provided any inspiration or positive role-modeling despite presiding over the biggest broadcast- media outfit on the continent."

Mwasa says "our call for this misguided entity to be placed under administration is inspired by the need to protect and preserve what little is left of credibility and integrity at the SABC. Our concern is for the professional men and women who have to carry the national mandate under the weight of an otherwise preoccupied management and SABC board."

BREAKING. SABC board passes a motion of no confidence in SABC board member Cawe Mahlati; CWU trade union wants her out too.

The SABC board has passes a motion of no confidence in SABC board member Cawe Mahlati and wants her gone - and the SABC board is not the only one: the Communication Workers' Union (CWU) also wants Cawe Mahlati out and says the CWU "supports the motion of no confidence passed by the SABC board".

The SABC and the government is still trying to fill the SABC board position left vacant by the resignation of SABC board member Clifford Motsepe earlier this year. 39 applications have been received so far. According to my latest parliamentary schedule, the shortlisting of candidates for the SABC board will be taking place today, 14 August. Interviews for all the shortlisted candidates for the position by parliament's portfolio committee for communications, is scheduled for 28 August.

Meanwhile the SABC board as well as the CWU wants Cawe Mahlati removed from the SABC board. "We call on the portfolio committee of communications to suspend Cawe Mahlati and on President Jacob Zuma to remove her as SABC board member as soon as possible," said CWU spokesperson Matankana Mothapo in a statement.

According to Matankana Mothapo, Cawe Mahlati allegedly tried to obtain tenders from the public broadcaster according to the statement.

The CWU makes further allegations against Cawe Mahlati in the press statement which I can't repeat, due to risk of libel.

"The CWU appreciate the role that the acting chief operating officer (COO) Hlaudi Motsoeneng and the group cief executive officer Lulama Mokhobo played in stabilising our public broadcaster and we will not allow anyone who will destabilise our public broadcaster," says the CWU in the statement.