4 June 2008
The SACP welcomes the call by the Minister of Communications that there should be a process led by parliament to review the current legislation governing the SABC and the appointment and removal of the board. We are ready as the SACP to participate in such a process.
The Public Broadcaster has recently been turned into a shameful circus by the consistent failure of the Board to provide leadership at the Corporation. The manner in which this board has been exposed buy recent developments including the court judgments as incompetent has brought to the bare what we have always said, this board does not have capacity and neither does it enjoy the confidence of our people to lead the SABC.
The board must go and it must go now! The President of the Republic cannot keep quite forever! We need action urgently. Public finances cannot continue to be wasted in factional and narrow political gimmicks in courts.
The SACP does not have any confidence that the current board can lead an objective inquiry into the current crisis since they are the primary source of the crisis.
It is against this background that we support a call for a public inquiry into the activities of the Board itself and whether board members are not, jointly and severally, guilty of misconduct and have failed to perform their duties.
The SACP calls for urgent action because we are concerned that this crisis has paralysed the SABC to focus on the many task that it has in the current and forthcoming period, and this includes to adequately prepare and educate our people about elections, dealing with Xenophobic attitudes, preparations for 20120, the digital migration and many other such huge challenges.
Issued by the SACP
For information Contact:
Malesela Maleka
SACP Spokesperson – 082 226 1802