OP-ED: Interview process for new SABC board ‘insane, weak and inadequate’ By Thandi Smith and Duduetsang Makuse
South Africans should be concerned not only for the quality and calibre of many of the candidates for the SABC board but of the commitment of the Parliamentary Committee on Communications to get the job done. As we know, it has been a long journey to get to this point where MMA and SOS have had to repeatedly send lawyers’ letters to ensure that the committee does its basic job.
According to Section 13 of the Broadcasting act, non-executive appointments must be made through an open and transparent process that begins with a call for the public to make nominations to parliament, specifically, the Portfolio Committee on Communications, who themselves are considered a body of public representatives.
The process began with an inquorate meeting and delayed starting times as several MPs were allegedly tied up in other meetings. After day three of the shortlisted candidates being interviewed for the SABC Board, we are yet again in a position of having very little confidence in our parliamentary processes. The three-day ordeal was marred with challenges of drawn-out interviews, MPs asking meandering questions and public confusion around the criteria used to shortlist the candidates.
In light of the tall order set out above, it is no wonder the public was often left wondering how some candidates had made it onto the shortlist, or even worse, how some MPs were engaging with candidates as if they were on the election campaign trail instead of focusing on making sure that the SABC board will have the right combination of skills, qualifications, and expertise from a group of people with proven integrity.
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