Maguvhe‚ his legal team and the SABC executives, including acting CEO James Aguma and Hlaudi Motsoeneng, staged a mass walkout
from the parliamentary committee on Wednesday morning.
Before he testified on Tuesday afternoon‚ the chairman of the ad hoc committee‚ Vincent Smith‚ informed the committee that Maguvhe was scheduled to appear on the 13th of December‚ but requested to be accommodated on an earlier date as he would not be available.
“You did not appear [on the 8th of December]. You had to be summonsed to be here‚” Smith said.
Maguvhe‚ however‚ said he was originally scheduled to appear on the 7th of December.
“Then it was moved to the 14th and that is when I indicated that from the 9th I am not available.
“On the issue of walking out‚ it was because my legal team requested an opportunity to address the committee in relation to my concerns.”
These concerns according to Maguvhe included: that he would need legal representation‚ be given documents and be able to cross examine witnesses.
“My legal team could not raise those issues then I had to go out and consult them and ask what do I do.”
Maguvhe told the committee that parliament did not accommodate visually-impaired people like himself.
The ad hoc committee is currently holding an inquiry into the fitness of the SABC board.
Meanwhile, Maguvhe took all and sundry by surprise when he admitted he was not aware about the ‘SABC 8’, reports Sydney Morweng, news editor.
This is in reference to the eight senior SABC journalists who were fired/suspended by the public broadcaster.
Following the court ruling, they were subsequently re-employed.
“I did not know or made aware of the eight senior reporters who were fired/suspended by the SABC. I only heard from radio about them, “he said when questioned by Members of Portfolio on Communication on Tuesday.
“Whether they’re juniors or seniors I was not aware,” said Maguvhe, who also indicated the only authority to make him step down from his position is Parliament.
