As questions are raised over President Cyril Ramaphosa’s delay in appointing the SABC board it has emerged that one of his close lieutenants, former communications minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, questioned the inclusion of the broadcaster's former head of news, Phathiswa Magopeni, in the list of candidates recommended by parliament.
This week Ramaphosa suggested that the names be sent back to parliament for consideration. He has an issue with three additional names parliament provided on top of the list of 12 that make up the non-executive directors.
But it is the interference by Ntshavheni that is set to raise eyebrows.
A letter by parliament’s communications portfolio committee chair Boyce Maneli to National Assembly speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula reveals that Ntshavheni questioned Magopeni’s candidacy, suggesting it went against corporate governance prescripts.
The letter is among documents Ramaphosa submitted to the Constitutional Court with his answering affidavit to Media Monitoring Africa’s challenge to his delay in appointing the board.
It is not clear on what basis Ntshavheni interfered in the appointment as parliament — through an open and transparent process involving public participation — is the only authority empowered to interview and select candidates.
Ntshavheni, through her office, declined to comment and referred questions to the department of communications & digital technologies, saying the minister in the Presidency “may no longer comment on matters related to [that department]”.
She was appointed minister in the Presidency in this week's cabinet reshuffle.
The president appoints the board at the recommendation of the assembly in what a high court described as “a purely formal” exercise.
According to Maneli, Ntshavheni wrote to Mapisa-Nqakula on January 25 — seven weeks after the National Assembly approved the names — asking the speaker “for assistance in clarifying certain matters arising from the objections [to] some of the candidates”.
“In particular, the minister sought clarification on Ms Magopeni’s recommendation to serve on the board on the basis that she is a former employee at the SABC and whether the committee had considered the prescripts of the King IV Report on corporate governance to determine her suitability for appointment,” wrote Maneli.
Maneli defended the committee’s decisions, saying they were guided by the Broadcasting Act and did not consider other good governance prescripts such as the King Report in making the recommendations.
Magopeni’s disciplinary process was not entertained in detail because it was considered an operational matter that was dealt with at the level of executive management, he said.
Maneli said committee members clarified possible areas of conflict during the interview process and these were responded to.
“It is on record that the various members of the committee had quite poignant questions about the possible conflict of interest in case she was considered to go back to the public broadcaster as a board member,” he said.
But the committee may have arrived at a different conclusion if the King IV Report was one of the considerations, he added.
Objections were raised against four candidates — Nomvuyiso Batyi, Dinkwanyane Mohuba, Mamodupi Mohlala-Mulaudzi and Thandeka Gqubule-Mbeki — before the committee held interviews in September.
The committee dismissed them in an open meeting and in consultation with parliament’s legal services. Two of the candidates who faced objections — Batyi and Mohuba — made it to the final list of 12 names.
The committee received no objections against Magopeni.
Ntshavheni did not respond to written questions.
Her actions raise eyebrows because the Johannesburg high court confirmed in October 2017 that the president’s power to appoint the non-executive members is “a purely formal power” as the National Assembly is the appointing authority.
While Ntshavheni questioned the inclusion of Magopeni because of her history with the public broadcaster, she said nothing about at least three other candidates — Renee Horn, Franz Kruger and Mpho Tsedu — who also worked for the SABC in the past.
The SABC axed Magopeni in January 2022, citing a breakdown of trust. An internal hearing found her guilty of misconduct for failing to prevent the broadcast of an interdicted episode of the investigative news programme Special Assignment.
Her sacking was controversial and came amid suggestions that it was politically motivated. The SABC later reached a settlement with her, but the details have not been disclosed.
The ANC’s former head of elections, Fikile Mbalula, who is now secretary-general, accused the SABC of running shows critical of service delivery at municipal level, which he claimed led to a lower voter turnout and contributed to his party’s loss of three Gauteng metros in the November 2021 local government elections.
Mbalula specifically singled out Magopeni for criticism.
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