Meeting report
The Chairperson stated that the Committee would be considering several outstanding minutes before proceeding with the interviews. Thereafter, he tabled 3 documents for consideration.
Consideration and Adoption of Outstanding Minutes
Committee Minutes dated 31 July 2012
The Chairperson went through the minutes page by page and invited comments from the floor.
The Chairperson pointed out the item number 2 on the first paragraph, line number 4 should be deleted. He further suggested that line 3 on the same paragraph should also be deleted.
The Committee accepted both proposals.
Mr A Steyn (DA) moved for the adoption, and Ms R Morutoa (ANC) seconded the motion. The 31 July minutes were adopted with minor amendments.
Committee Minutes dated 21 August 2012
Mr G Schneeman (ANC) pointed out a spelling error on page 2.
Mr Steyn said that the minutes did not indicate that he was the Acting Chairperson for that meeting.
Mr Steyn said that paragraph 2 should clearly state that the temporary workers were employed through labour brokers.
Mr Schneeman said that by changing the sentence the meaning might also change.
Ms Morutoa concurred and said that the minutes were supposed to be the true reflection of what actually happened in the meeting, she also suggested that the sentence should not be changed at all.
The Chairperson suggested that the sentence should be “temporary workers were employed by labour brokers with unequal pay” to accommodate all arguments.
Ms M Shin (DA) pointed out that the last sentence on page 3 “the labour brokers were striking against their employers” should be rewritten.
Ms Morutoa cautioned the Committee that the minutes were not clear enough and that might lead Members to insert things that were not said in the meeting.
Ms R Lesoma (ANC) suggested that the adoption should be deferred because there were many inaccuracies
Ms J Killian (COPE) said that the recommendations clearly stated what the meaning was about; there was no need to for the Committee to go into details about what was meant by which sentence. She then pointed out an error on page 4 where the word “labour brokers” rather than the word “employees” was used.
Ms Morutoa concurred with Ms Killian suggestion regarding the recommendations.
Ms Killian pointed out that her name was not listed in the people that were present in the meeting.
Mr Thembinkosi Ngoma Ngoma, Committee Secretary, pointed out that Ms Killian's name was reflected in the second draft. Mr Schneeman moved for adoption and Ms Lesoma seconded the motion, the 21 August Minutes 2012 were adopted with amendments.
Committee Minutes dated 28 July 2012
Ms Killian referred to page 2 and pointed out that that the prefix Honourable should not be reflected in the Minutes because it was meant to be used only verbally.
Ms Morutoa said that there was no need for the Committee to waste time debating the issue, the Chairperson agreed with Ms Morutoa.
Mr C Kekana (ANC) said that the minutes were supposed to reflect what was said in the meeting word for word.
Mr Steyn referred to page 4, paragraph 2 and suggested the deletion of the word “ make” before the word “it”.
Mr Schneeman suggested the removal of the words “ what’s after portion were prepared”
Ms W Newhoudt-Druchen (ANC) pointed out that her surname did not reflect its double barrel nature.
At the bottom of page 8, Mr Steyn said that the names that were referred to should also be printed out because a person who might read the minutes would not understand who the people referred to were.
Mr Schneeman moved for the adoption and Ms Killian seconded this. The 28 July 2012 minutes were adopted with amendments.
The Chairperson said that the Committee should look at ways of improving the minute capturing.
Minutes
Interview Questions Posed To Candidates
●Candidates was asked to explain the reasons he though that he was appropriate for the position of the Board Member.
●Members asked the Candidate to briefly explain the role of the SABC.
●Candidates were informed that the SABC had been dogged by a number of problems that included corruption scandals irrespective whether they were perceived or real; they were then asked how they would solve those problems.
●One candidate's CV showed that he had telecoms experience, he was then asked how he would use that experience for the benefit of the SABC.
●Members noted that the SABC was expected to cater to a wide variety of audiences that differed in culture class and age. Candidates were consequently asked about their plans that would ensure that the SABC was accessible to more all language groups including sign language.
●After allegations of corruption levelled against the SABC a commission of enquiry was set up to investigate, and then the report of the investigation was withheld. Candidates were asked what they would do in that situation if they were board members.
●Candidates were asked what they would do to ensure that airtime was not only given to certain political parties. They were also asked whether they would report wrongdoing even if it meant reporting a colleague.
●Members asked candidates to explain the measures they would implement which would ensure journalistic integrity. The SABC was a public broadcaster with some commercial stations that cross subsidised other stations. Candidates were asked to name programmes that they would undertake to strengthen the broadcaster.
●Candidates were asked whether they would be able to balance their time demands since they were involved in many other ventures.
●Members highlighted that the CEO of the SABC was also the Head of News and operations. They asked the candidates about their views concerning the separation of powers and combining both roles for one person.
●Candidates were asked what they would do to ensure that the SABC aired enough local content.
●Members asked candidates whether they had anything that might lead to disqualification.
●Candidates were asked to explain about the measures they would employ to deal with conflicting views and ideas that were clashing with good corporate governance.
●They were asked to compare different funding models and about the type of funding model that would be suitable for the SABC.
●Members enquired about their knowledge of the Broadcasting Act No.4 of 1999 and how it would benefit the SABC.
●Candidates were asked to explain the relationship between the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) and the duties of board members. Previously the PFMA had not been properly implemented; candidates were asked about the reasons that those people who contravened it were not sanctioned.
●One candidate that had previously resigned from the SABC Board was asked the reasons that she came back, and how she would handle the same problems that led her to resign in the first place.
●Candidates were asked to explain how they would expand universal access to South Africans regardless of geographical location, while the SABC remained sustainable.
●Members asked the candidates about their views on the payment of television licences and what suggestions they had regarding revenue collection.
●Some candidates were asked about information on their work experience that had been left out of their CV’s; they were also asked for reasons why they left their previous employment.
●Members noted that some candidates CV's showed that they moved from one job to another after less than 10 months. Members then asked whether they would be able to stay as board members without resigning within six months.
●Candidates were asked whether they had any questions for the Committee.
●Candidates were asked to explain what they would be bringing to the board if they had been appointed.
●One candidate was asked why his CV did not reflect his experience while serving on the audit committee of the Department of Communications. Members then asked what other work experiences the candidate had which were not on his CV.
●Members commented that language groups were not evenly represented on SABC stations, the candidates were asked what plans they had to ensure equal representation of all languages including sign language.
●Candidates were asked how they would handle conflicting interests when they were appointed to the Board.
●Candidates with legal background were asked what they would contribute because there were many legal practitioners already serving on the SABC board.
●Members asked candidates what they would do to ensure that the SABC practised balanced coverage.
●Candidates were asked what did they do for living, or who was their employer. They were also asked whether they owned any TV sets and whether they had paid their TV licences.
●Candidates were asked to explain what they would do to ensure good corporate governance, and then they were asked how they would utilise the PFMA. What they would do to ensure long time sustainability of the SABC.
●Some candidates were asked to comment to allegations of inadequate experience. What they would do for the Board to improve good quality programming. Members highlighted that the Media Monitoring South Africa report showed that more than 25% of SABC television programmes were repeats and there was not enough local content. Candidates were asked what they would do to ensure that programming reflected the demographics.
●SABC news was regarded as bias towards certain political interests, candidates were asked to sketch their plans to counteract news report imbalances.
●Some of the candidates were asked the reason that the growth in staff complement was not accompanied by an improvement in quality productivity. They were asked what unique experience they would bring to the SABC Board.
●Members asked some candidates why the country had a shortage of broadcasting engineers and what could be done to solve that problem. They were also asked what they thought could be done to decentralise broadcasting that was mostly based in Gauteng province.
●Candidates were asked to speculate about why they were nominated.
●The SABC was widely perceived in a negative light, candidates were asked how they would instil renewed hope in the public broadcaster.
●The King lll report on good governance was explicit on information disclosure, candidates were asked what they would do when the SABC management decided not to disclose information such as reports on inquiry.
●A candidate was asked how it was possible for someone to graduate with 6 degrees within a space of ten years.
●Some candidates were asked how many times they had been interviewed to sit on the SABC Board.
The meeting was adjourned.
