Speaker, we warned two weeks ago that the SABC was in a severe crisis and we questioned the ruling party's commitment to ensuring that the public broadcaster fulfils its public mandate - not be turned into the state broadcaster.
During the past week the whole nation was entertained by a sad spectacle of divisions, accusations and counter-accusations by board members and the Minister, who has been conspicuous in her absence to guide the corporation's turnaround strategy.
We saw the dismissal of the acting COO, the unilateral reversal of the board resolution by the chairperson and a letter from the Minister indicating that the board must resolve their internal dispute away from the public eye. The latest now is that the President will decide if he accepts the resignation of the chairperson and his deputy who acted like spoilt kids when their favourite deployee was sacked - they threw a tantrum and resigned from the board.
All journalists, including SABC reporters, know that the chairperson and his deputy ruled the SABC board like their personal business and the acting COO controlled news content. They usurped the executive authority to make appointments and arrange tenders, violating several Public Finance Management Act procedures. But they also wielded a big stick for all who did not publicly support their actions and shielded some employees from scrutiny whilst others were hunted down in disciplinary processes.
Speaker, Cope insists that the SABC-ANC board must be dissolved and that the Minister should be deployed as ambassador to some other country. [Interjections.] Only then can we start with a new process to turn the public broadcaster into a corporation that will serve the public interest - not only the interest of a select few in the ANC. [Time expired.]