Madam Deputy Speaker, I will present the report, and the rest I will leave to those who like to argue a great deal!
My duty is to present the report, but I must start by saying that the Minister is in Polokwane, addressing the national conference of community broadcasters, and the Deputy Minister is preparing for her wedding this coming weekend. So, clearly, I must account for where they are, because I know where they are.
On 7 May the Portfolio Committee on Communications had referred to it a request to consider the appointment of one board member in the SABC, after Mr Clifford Motsepe had resigned as a result of his appointment as an MEC in Limpopo. We advertised the vacancy and received 38 nominations. As a committee we shortlisted six names. [Interjections.]
Order, hon members! I can hardly hear the hon member.
We then conducted interviews on 4 September 2012. After having interviewed all six candidates, we as a committee came to a conclusion on a name this time around, and all parties on the portfolio committee, except the DA, agreed on this name.
The name that we put before this House for recommendation to the President to appoint in the vacancy of Mr Clifford Motsepe, is the name of Ms Noluthando Gosa. We therefore recommend that her name be put before the House so that the President can appoint her in the vacancy that currently exists on the SABC Board. I thank you. [Applause.]
There was no debate.
Question put: That Ms Noluthando Gosa be recommended for appointment to the Board of the South African Broadcasting Corporation.
Declarations of vote:
Deputy Speaker, the SA Broadcasting Corporation, the SABC, is in perpetual crisis. Its board, responsible for rooting out the rot and putting the broadcaster on a recovery path, needs appropriately experienced people of considerable backbone, integrity and ability, and with a commitment to hard work. There is no room for passengers or the workshy who cannot pull their weight when the going gets tough, which is the basic environment at the SABC.
The current board, when viewed as a whole, lacks financial skills. It has an adequate supply of people with media experience, regulatory knowledge and basic business skills, but there is a gap in finance. The DA objects to Ms Gosa's appointment, in part because she was not the most appropriately qualified candidate we interviewed. For example, a forensic auditor was rejected in her favour. Her expertise is in media and property investment, and I am sure she is valued in that environment.
Ms Gosa has served on the SABC board before. She was there from 2003 to 2005. She resigned before her term expired, because, she said, she could not tolerate the corruption and inefficiency of the corporation. Well, what has changed? How do we know that she will last the course this time?
She also told the committee of her close working relationship with the ANC, and wondered aloud whether this could be interpreted as a conflict of interest and bar her from being considered. It seems not. It has proved to be the final stamp of approval by the majority of the committee.
Besides the skill and corruption woes, the SABC is riddled with political infighting. It does not need an ANC heavyweight on the board. It needs independent minds that are totally focused on turning the SABC into a world- class broadcaster serving the needs of all South Africans. It does not need another ANC pal.
Continued deployment of inappropriately skilled ANC cadres condemns these state entities to fail repeatedly in respect of delivering on their mandates. And yet this House, by approving these appointments, is supporting this insanity. It is time for hon colleagues to realise that they cannot continue to criticise nonperformance of state entities if they are responsible for choosing inappropriate people to govern them. The DA does not support Ms Gosa's appointment.
Deputy Speaker, Cope will support the nomination contained in the report before us today. We believe that the process was fair, transparent and objective, and it conformed to the law.
But, unfortunately, the same tendency has emerged in this process, namely that senior state officials in the communications sector, as well as in state-owned entities, nominated one another and friends to serve on the SABC Board. Another musical chairs exercise.
This is not ideal, Deputy Speaker. Although it is not in contravention any Act, respectable leaders from all walks of life should be called upon to make a contribution by making themselves available to serve on the SABC Board - people with experience and knowledge of directing institutions so that they achieve service excellence and profitability.
For as long as the SABC and Independent Communications Authority of SA, Icasa, nominations are regarded as being for the select few with close connections to the ANC, this will unfortunately not happen. We need to ensure that good governance practices are instilled in the SABC.
However, Cope is satisfied that Ms Gosa will bring quality leadership to the board, after her experience in the National Planning Commission.
The current reality is, unfortunately, that the SABC has still not overcome its financial woes, and it is still plagued by very serious challenges, including a lack of effective systems to root out fraud and corruption. Due appointment procedures also still seem to remain a challenge.
An additional and growing concern is political manipulation and interference with the news editorial policy, which leads to the freezing out of opposition parties, in particular Cope. News reporters are indeed complaining about this. This is against the law, and a matter that the board should regard as a high priority.
Irrespective of party preferences of individual board members and the SABC executive, they have a duty to serve the nation as a whole. By law they are compelled to, and I quote, "ensure plurality of news, views and information. "This is in section 2 of the Broadcasting Act. It must also service the needs of all South Africans. Its news service must be accurate, fair and impartial -section 6 of the Broadcasting Act.
We trust that Ms Gosa will understand that as a board member she is compelled to be committed to the above, and also to the principles of openness and accountability.
That brings me to the serious financial woes that are still plaguing the SABC. Deputy Speaker, it is completely unacceptable that there is still no bid adjudication committee functioning, three years after the Auditor- General exposed huge losses and financial corruption. This is a weakness that can create further opportunities for tender manipulation and fraud. This is unacceptable, and she must address that. Thank you, Deputy Speaker. [Time expired.]
Deputy Speaker, there are a couple of things that I would like to raise. Firstly, when we as a committee looked at the current composition of the SABC Board, one of the things that was extremely noticeable was that the current SABC Board is largely male-dominated. So, that is one of the things that we looked at, the issue of gender representivity.
During the interviews we found that out of the five candidates that we interviewed, Ms Noluthando Gosa was one that came across exceptionally well. In fact, when we sat down as parties initially to discuss possible candidates that we would bring to the National Assembly, all parties mentioned the name of Ms Noluthando Gosa. So I thought that I should just make that clear right now.
However, Ms Noluthando Gosa is not being nominated only because she is a woman. She is being nominated - we nominated her and I think most of the parties agree, except for the DA, of course - because we agree that she has the qualities and the skills. If we look at her curriculum vitae, she has the necessary degrees in various areas of competency that we are needing in the SABC.
I think she has also proved herself to be a person of principle. The fact that she resigned from the SABC Board - because, as she told us, she could not tolerate and support the levels of corruption - I think shows that she is a person of principle. She was prepared to give up her position. [Interjections.]
Also, if she, in fact, does get to serve on the SABC Board, she will bring with her the experience that she gained from having been a serving SABC Board member. She brings an understanding and a knowledge of some of the things that are required.
Yes, if she is indeed appointed to the board, we would want to encourage her to serve her full term, and to stand by the principles that she has already indicated to us are the reasons why she resigned in the first place.
I want to say that as a Parliament here, if we all unanimously support the name of Ms Noluthando Gosa, we will be sending out a very clear and serious message about our support for gender representivity in our country.
I want to make an appeal ... [Interjections.]. No, no, no. I want to make an appeal to the DA at this late stage to change their position and reconsider their opposition to this particular candidate. Thank you very much.
Question agreed to (Democratic Alliance dissenting).
Ms Noluthando Gosa accordingly recommended for appointment to the Board of the South African Broadcasting Corporation.