President Cyril Ramaphosa appointed eight new board members to fill the vacancies on the Board of the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) with immediate effect. The new members of the Board will serve the unexpired term of office of the members who resigned en masse from the SABC Board, which will expire on 15 October 2022.
The embattled public broadcaster has evaded stability for many years. Ramaphosa made the appointment in accordance with Section 13 of the Broadcasting Act (Act 4 of 1999), which stipulates that non-executive members of the SABC Board must be appointed by the President on the advice of the National Assembly following a process of public participation in the nomination, transparency and openness in the selection.
The African National Congress (ANC) in parliament was the first to give the thumbs up to the new board members. The governing party said that the first order of business for the new board would be to finalise the SABC’s strategic turnaround plan. Mziwamadoda Kalako, ANC whip on the communications portfolio committee said the new board members were more than well-equipped to turn the organisation around. “You know that grouping, especially those women, they are seasoned in the industry,” he said. He made particular reference to former Director-General of the Communications Department, Ms Mamodupi Mohlala-Mulaudzi who was also appointed the deputy chairperson.”She has been there right from the crafting of both the (broadcasting) policy and the act,” he said. Mohlala-Mulaudzi was dismissed by then Minister of Communications, Siphiwe Nyanda, after a dispute regarding tender procedures.
The new board members are: Ms. Mary Papayya; Ms. Jasmina Patel; Dr Marcia Socikwa; Ms. Mamodupi Mohlala-Mulaudzi; Ms. Bernedette Muthien; Advocate Benjamin Motshedi Lekalakala; Professor Sathasivan Cooper; and Mr. David Maimela.
Ramaphosa wished the new board members well in their efforts “to secure the sustainability of the South African Broadcasting Corporation as an important component of national life and of the deepening of democratic engagement in the country”.
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