Interviews of candidates to serve in the Media Development and Diversity Agency (MDDA) Board

Meeting report

Opening Remarks and Apologies
The Chairperson opened the meeting by welcoming all present. He stated that the purpose of the meeting to interview shortlisted candidates to serve on the Media Development and Diversity Agency (MDDA) Board.

The Chairperson read apologies from Ms J Killian (COPE), Mr G Scheemann (ANC) and Mr L Van der Merwe (IFP).

The Chairperson recalled that at the last meeting the Committee had agreed to recommend its nominee for the SABC Board today.

Ms F Muthambi (ANC) proposed that the Committee deal with the recommendation in the next meeting because Ms Killian was not present and since she was involved in the process of interviews the Committee should afford her the opportunity to be involved in the recommendation of a name.

The Committee agreed that it would leave that issue of the recommendation of the name for its next meeting.

Interviews for the MDDA Board

The candidates were asked the following questions:

Mr Ratha Ramathlape

●Mr Ratha Ramathlape was asked why he was the best candidate for the job.

●He was asked what about the role of the MDDA.

●He was asked whether the MDDA was fulfilling its mandate.

●He was asked why he was interested in community radio and how he got involved in the community media.

●He was asked what the challenges were of the small community media.

●He was asked to elaborate on the role and the mandate of MDDA in terms of existing legislation.

●He was asked what kind of consultancy he was providing since he had two consultancies.

●He was asked whether there any conflict of interests would arise if he had to be appointed to the MDDA.

●He was asked what his understanding was of corporate governance in terms of the Public Finance Management Act, Companies Act and the King lll Codes on Good Governance. In addition, he was asked whether these policies were observed by the previous Boards and the current Board.

●He was asked whether these policies would solve the challenges faced by the MDDA.

●He was asked how he would use those policies to account for the money that had been appropriated by Parliament for small communities.

●He was asked what his understanding was of the community newspapers and what their challenges were.

●He was asked about the language challenges encountered by newspapers.

Refer to audio for responses.

Ms Nokuzola Ehrens

●Ms Nokuzola Ehrens was asked what her understanding was of the MDDA in terms of its aims, objectives and its key mandate.

●She was asked what she was bringing to ensure that the MDDA lived up to its mandate.

●She was asked why she was nominated by the South African Communications Forum but did not have experience in the communications industry.

●She was asked why she wanted to get involved in the MDDA.

●She was asked what her feeling was of community radio stations and what role should they play.

●She was asked what the key challenges were for small businesses to get started and be financially viable, and if she had any knowledge of the media industry in that regard.

●She was asked what value she would add to the MDDA.

●She was asked if she believed that the MDDA should give support in terms of seed funding to community radio stations and community print media, and how they should move forward and make themselves self sustainable.

●She was asked what her understanding was of corporate governance in terms of the Public Finance Management Act, Companies Act and the King lll Codes on Good Governance.

●She was asked whether these policies would help solve governance issues especially in community media and how she would ensure that all community media complied with corporate governance.

●She was asked about the performance evaluation of individual Board members and of the Board as a whole.

●She was asked whether the MDDA was correctly situated within the Presidency, where it currently resided.

●She was asked whether the funding model for the MDDA was correct or if it should be changed.

●She was asked what type of work the MDDA should be doing in terms community radio stations because there was a concern that advertising and big corporations were monopolising the community media.  Was the MDDA playing its role in this regard?

●Based on her experience, she was asked whether she had any interaction with media or radio stations and if so, what did it entail.

●She was asked whether the unqualified audits received by the MDDA helped it to do a good job.

●She was asked to elaborate on the transformation of the local print media which had been advocated by the MDDA.

Refer to audio for responses.

Mr Jimmy Manyi

●Mr Jimmy Manyi was asked what areas of concern he had identified in the functions of MDDA in terms of corporate governance.

●He was asked where the MDDA should focus in terms of diversity.

●He was asked what his interest was in relation to community media.

●He was asked what he had learned during in his time on the MDDA Board that made him get involved in the community media.

●He was asked what specific skills he was bringing to the Board.

●He was asked whether he was serving in other boards.

●He was asked why he accepted the nomination to the MDDA Board and what his interest was.

●He was asked whether there was any conflict of interest if he was appointed to the MDDA Board.

●He was asked what different strategies he would apply to ensure media diversity was safe guarded and nurtured.

●He was asked how the MDDA would serve the public interest and if this was its primary purpose.

●He was asked what the distinction was between the print media and the electronic media, did they serve a different purpose in society.

●Given his extensive broadcasting background, he was asked why the MDDA was needed in the country.

●He was asked about his Diploma in Economic Geology.

●He was asked what his contribution would be if he were appointed to the MDDA Board.

●He was asked what contribution he would make to ensure the sustainability of small community media when it got seed funding from the MDDA.

●He was asked how he would assist people from deep rural areas.

●He was asked what he would do differently that he was not able to do when he had an opportunity to represent Government in the MDDA.

●He was asked how to get around problem of governance issues.

Refer to audio for responses.

Dr Adele Moodley

●Ms Adele Moodley was asked to explain the mandate of the MDDA.

●She was asked why she should be appointed to the MDDA Board.

●She was asked what contribution she would make to the MDDA.

●She was asked to explain areas that she would specifically focus on if she were appointed to the MDDA Board.

●She was asked whether the funding model of the MDDA was relevant in terms of its mandate.

●She was asked about her enthusiasm for the small media outlets.

●She was asked what she was bringing in terms of business development. Did she have any experience in getting businesses established?

●She was asked what exactly attracted her to the MDDA Board.

●She was asked what unique skill she was bringing to the MDDA Board.

●She was asked if she believed that the MDDA should give support in terms of seed funding to community radio stations and community print media, and how they should move forward and make themselves self sustainable.

●She was asked whether education had been used by the media to help fight poverty and how it could be improved if it was not done.

●She was asked what her understanding was of corporate governance in terms of the Public Finance Management Act, Companies Act and the King lll Codes on Good Governance.

●She was asked whether these policies would help solve governance issues especially in community media and how she would ensure that all community media complied with corporate governance.

●She was asked how she felt about the performance evaluation of individual Board members and of the Board as a whole.

She was asked whether the funding model of the MDDA was correct or if it should be changed.

●She was asked what type of work the MDDA should be doing in terms community radio stations because there was a concern about the advertising and big corporations monopolising the community media. Was the MDDA playing its role in this regard?

Refer to audio for responses.

The meeting was adjourned.