Pan South African Language Board Interviews day 1

Meeting report

Candidate one: Mr TD Maahlamela

Chairperson asked him to brief the committee about his interest in languages.

Mr T Makhondo (ANC), first, wanted to find out about the period when Mr Maahlamela was part of the NEC and National English Literature. Second, he wanted to know what the challenges were that faced the NEC board to a point that it was dissolved. Third, he asked him what skills does he have that would be valuable to PanSALB. Lastly, he asked him if he had any conflicting interest.

Ms S Tsoleli (ANC) asked him about his understanding of PanSALB’s mandate according to the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa and the PanSALB Act of 1995. She further wanted to know his understanding of the importance of multilingualism in both the public and private sector.

Ms V Mogotsi (ANC) asked him how he would ensure ethical leadership and integrity were practiced in the board; and wanted to understand how he would mitigate conflict between the board and senior management.

Refer to the audio for the candidate’s response

Candidate two: Ms SB Dichabe

The Chairperson noted to the committee that Ms Tsoleli has declared she knows the candidate. As a result, she did not score the candidate.

Mr Makhondo asked her what conflict of interest would hinder her from doing her job, if she got appointed to the board.

Ms Mogotsi asked her how she would ensure ethical leadership and integrity were practiced in the board.

Ms N Bilankulu (ANC) wanted to understand how she would promote equality for all the 11 official South African languages considering that most of the indigenous ones were marginalised. She stated some of the 11 official languages in South Africa were not afforded the same status.

Mr M Rabotapi (DA) enquired what values she would be bringing to the board and how useful would these values be.

Mr G Grootboom (DA) wanted to find out about her understanding of PanSALB’s mandate according to the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa and the PanSALB Act of 1995.

Mr Makhondo asked her what other skills has she got to ensure that other languages would be developed.

Ms Mogotsi asked her how she would mitigate conflict between the board and senior management.

Mr Makhondo wanted to know about her views regarding PanSALB’s independence and reporting structure. He stated that since 2012, PanSALB had the issue of being Chapter 1 institution but was accountable to the Department of Arts and Culture, particularly the minister. There was view that said PanSALB should be independent of the department because it was a constitutional entity. However, the minister, currently, has oversight over PanSALB and appoints the board.

Mr Grootboom asked her about her understanding of the importance of multilingualism in both the public and private sector.

Refer to the audio for the candidate’s response

Candidate three: Ms N Rasana

Chairperson asked her to talk about her interest in languages.

Mr Makhondo asked her what skills does she have that would be valuable to PanSALB.

Ms Tsoleli wanted to know what her understanding was of PanSALB’s mandate according to the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa and the PanSALB Act of 1995.

Ms Bilankulu asked her how she would promote equality for all 11 official South African languages considering that most of the indigenous ones were marginalised.

Mr Grootboom enquired what she would to promote languages such as Nama, Sign language, San and Khoi.

Mr Makhondo wanted to understand if she had any other commitments that would compromise her stance should she be appointed to PanSALB.

Ms Tsoleli asked her about her understanding of the importance of multilingualism in both the public and private sector.

Ms Mogotsi asked her how she would mitigate conflict between the board and senior management; and asked her what the role of a board member was. She further asked her how she would ensure ethical leadership and integrity were practiced in the board.

Mr Makhondo wanted to understand what she was going to do to ensure under-developed languages were developed and promoted.

Refer to the audio for the candidate’s response

Candidate four: Mr C Gqabu

Chairperson asked him to talk about his interest in languages.

Mr Makhondo asked him if he had any issues to declare that would be a conflict of interest if he got appointed to PanSALB.

Ms Tsoleli wanted to know about his understanding of PanSALB’s mandate according to the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa and the PanSALB Act of 1995.

Ms Mogotsi enquired how he would ensure there was ethical leadership and integrity in the board of PanSALB.

Chairperson wanted to find out if he understood when she said people join the board with their integrity intact and it was the committee’s wish that when they leave the board, their integrity was still intact.

Ms Mogotsi further wanted to establish if he knew what the role of a board member was.

Ms Bilankulu asked how he would promote equality for all 11 official South African languages considering that most of the indigenous ones were marginalised. She said not all of these languages were afforded the same status.

Mr Rabotapi asked him what values he would bring to the board and how useful would these values be.

Mr Grootboom wanted to find out about his understanding of the use of indigenous languages in line with Section 6 of the Constitution in government departments and universities. He asked the role PanSALB would play to ensure that indigenous languages were used in these institutions.

Ms Tsoleli wanted to know about his stance on the importance of multilingualism in both the public and private sector, considering that the sign language was under-represented.

Ms N November (ANC) asked him if there was any link/relationship between the department of education and PanSALB structure.

Mr Grootboom asked him how he would mitigate a conflict between the board and executive of PanSALB.

Chairperson stated the question asked by Mr Grootboom was very important because the board should be clear on its mandate as there have been issues encountered by the committee previously.

Refer to the audio for the candidate’s response

Candidate five: Ms FDG Dlavane

Mr Makhondo asked her what skills she would be bringing to the board that would help deal with the challenges that PanSALB faced.

Ms Tsoleli asked what her stance was on the importance of multilingualism in both the public and private sector and why she thought it would be good to practice multilingualism. She also wanted to understand how she would make sure legislation was implemented in its totality.

Ms Mogotsi asked how she would ensure there was ethical leadership and integrity in the board of PanSALB.

Ms Bilankulu asked how he would promote equality for all 11 official South African languages considering that most of the indigenous ones were marginalised. She said not all of these languages were afforded the same status.

Mr Rabotapi asked her what values she would bring to the board and how useful would these values be to the board.

Mr Grootboom enquired how she would promote and develop languages that were marginalised such as Nama, San and Khoi.

Refer to the audio for the candidate’s response

Candidate six: Mr MK Maleboa

Mr Makhondo asked him how he would mitigate a conflict between the board and executive of PanSALB.

Mr Grootboom asked him if the board should report to the Department of Arts and Culture or to parliament.

Ms Tsoleli asked him what he thought the problem was with the board.

Ms Mogotsi asked him how he would ensure there was ethical leadership and integrity in the board of PanSALB.

Ms Bilankulu asked him how he would promote equality for all 11 official South African languages considering that most of the indigenous ones were marginalised. She said not all of these languages were afforded the same status.

Mr Rabotapi asked him what values he would be bringing to the board and how useful would these values be to the board.

Mr Grootboom asked him how he would mitigate a conflict between the board and executive of PanSALB.

Mr Makhondo asked him if he had any issues to declare that would be a conflict of interest should he be appointed to PanSALB.

Candidate seven: Mr LC Mafisa

Mr Makhondo asked him what skills he would be bringing to the board that would help deal with the challenges that PanSALB faced.

Ms Tsoleli wanted to know his understanding of PanSALB’s mandate according to the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa and the PanSALB Act of 1995.

Ms Mogotsi enquired how he would ensure that there was ethical leadership and integrity in the board of PanSALB.

Ms Bilankulu asked him how he would promote equality for all 11 official South African languages considering that most of the indigenous ones were marginalised. She said not all of these languages were afforded the same status.

Mr Rabotapi asked him what values he would be bringing to the board and how useful would these values be.

Mr Grootboom asked him if North-West University has got a language policy and unit; and wanted to know his understanding of the use of indigenous languages in line with the Section 6 of the Constitution in government departments and universities. He asked the role PanSALB would play to ensure that indigenous languages were used in these institutions.

Ms Tsoleli wanted to know his stance on the importance of multilingualism in both the public and private sector.

Mr Makhondo asked him if he had any issues to declare that would be a conflict of interest should he be appointed to PanSALB.

Ms Mogotsi wanted to understand how he would mitigate a conflict between the board and executive of PanSALB.

Refer to the audio for the candidate’s response

Candidate eight: Ms KG Bilankulu

Mr Makhondo wanted to understand what skills she would be bringing to the board that would help deal with the challenges that PanSALB faced.

Ms Tsoleli wanted to know her understanding of PanSALB’s mandate according to the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa and the PanSALB Act of 1995.

Ms Mogotsi enquired how she would ensure there was ethical leadership and integrity in the board of PanSALB.

Ms Bilankulu wanted to establish how he would promote equality for all 11 official South African languages considering that most of the indigenous ones were marginalised. She said not all of these languages were afforded the same status.

Mr Rabotapi asked her what values she would be bringing to the board and how useful would these values be.

Mr Grootboom wanted to find out about his understanding of the use of indigenous languages in line with the Section 6 of the Constitution in government departments and universities. He asked the role PanSALB would play to ensure that indigenous languages were used in these institutions.

Ms November asked how she would mitigate a conflict between the board and executive of PanSALB.

Mr Makhondo asked what the difference was between the interference and oversight and what the meeting point of the two was.

Refer to the audio for the candidate’s response

Candidate nine: Mr BJ Skosana

Mr Makhondo wanted to understand what skills he would be bringing to the board that would help deal with the challenges that PanSALB faced.

Ms Mogotsi asked him how he would ensure there was ethical leadership and integrity in the board of PanSALB.

Ms Tsoleli wanted to know his understanding of PanSALB’s mandate according to the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa and the PanSALB Act of 1995.

Ms Bilankulu asked him if he has ever realised that even in parliament there was a gap in the use of languages. She said everyone must have pride in their languages.

Mr Rabotapi enquired what values he would be bringing to the board and how useful would these values be; and he asked him if he has looked at the relevance of skills he would bringing to the institution.

Mr Grootboom wanted to understand if he has realised how big the language issue was; wanted to find out about his understanding of the use of indigenous languages in line with the Section 6 of the Constitution in government departments and universities. He asked the role PanSALB would play to ensure that indigenous languages were used in these institutions.

Ms November asked him how he would mitigate a conflict between the board and executive of PanSALB.

Mr Makhondo asked what he was going to do to ensure languages that were marginalised were developed.

Ms Tsoleli wanted to establish what his stance was on the importance of multilingualism in both the public and private sector.

Refer to the audio for the candidate’s response

The meeting was adjourned.