Hannah Omarjee | homarjee@radioislam.co.za
7 March 2023 | 17:00 CAT
2 min read

Photo Credit: Daily Maverick

President Cyril Ramaphosa has come under fire following his request for further details regarding the recommendations for the SABC Board. Parliament requested legal advice, and the advisor concluded that the president’s request was unconstitutional.

Parliament’s portfolio committee for communications is now requesting that Ramaphosa be instructed to appoint a board immediately.

In conversation with Radio Islam International, Thandi Smith, Head of Programming at Media Monitoring Africa, said President Ramaphosa’s questioning of the process that parliament and National Assembly went through is unprecedented, prompting the organisation to launch an urgent application with the Constitutional Court last month.

Smith said,” It’s about the powers that the president has over whether the appointment of the board is simply an administrative process, which we believe and you know legal opinion believes that it is, or whether he has discretion over choosing names for the board.”

Ramaphosa’s’ request left the SABC in a dangerously unstable condition.

Smith explained that without a Board, there was an extreme backlog of governance issues that needed to be dealt with, including various business deals that required finalising.

She added that having an institution with this much power and responsibility without a Board for almost six months is unprecedented.

A leaderless SABC will also impact the upcoming elections, where an independent, stable and workable SABC is needed. The longer the SABC is without a board, the higher the risk that the SABC will no longer be able to function at the level it is required to.

Media Monitoring Africa submitted an urgent plea to the Constitutional Court a few weeks ago, which the president’s legal counsel responded to. The Constitutional Court then requested additional supplementary affidavits with more detail.

Smith said,” Now it really is in the hands of the Court as to what the next steps in this legal matter will be.”

According to Smith, another issue facing the SABC is the switch from an analogue to a digital environment, as many South Africans still rely heavily on analogue. The Department of Communications and Digital Technologies, which is in charge of the switch-over, should be engaging with key stakeholders in making critical decisions around the process. These key stakeholders should be the SABC board.

Smith said they are waiting with bated breath to either hear an actual announcement of the board being appointed or the response from the Constitutional Court.

Listen to the full interview on Your World Today hosted by Annisa Essack here.