Following yesterday’s media briefing by ANC chief whip Jackson Mthembu, its obvious the ruling party is unhappy at the crisis unfolding at the public broadcaster and it seems heads are going to roll.
“It is the considered view of the ANC that the various crisis engulfing the SABC are a consequence of a lack of leadership at the institution‚” said Mthembu at media briefing at the Luthuli House on Tuesday.
“Vacancies at the most senior and critical positions within the institution as well as ongoing court challenges facing the COO [Hlaudi Motsoeneng]‚ serve to weaken general managerial control and have led to a collapse of corporate governance within the organisation‚ said Mthembu, who also chairs the ANC national executive committee’s subcommittee on communications.
“We wanted people who were qualified for positions to lead the public broadcaster.
“We want people who are qualified to lead the SABC… We have said this so many times to all ministers that were appointed to this position of [minister of communications]. We have said to them ‘ You need to ensure that we have got people who know how to run an institution as big as the SABC at the highest level.
“You can’t bring any Tom‚ Dick or Harry to run such a big institution‚” said Mthembu.
The chief whip said he believed the ANC as the governing party should have been notified about changes made at the broadcaster. He added that the party was just as “clueless” as the rest of South Africa about why the SABC had introduced editorial changes.
Such comments by Mthembu shows there’s bad blood between the ruling party and Motsoeneng, who is believed to be in the corner of President JG Zuma.
An inquiry will be established to find what out what led to this untenable situation.
A meeting with minister of communication has been arranged for next Monday.
Yes, gloves are off and blood is all over at the public broadcaster’s corridors!
Is Motsoeneng living on borrowed times; your guess is just good as mine?
Additional reporting Sowetanlive
