Chairperson, the ACDP will not support this Budget Vote for the reasons enunciated by previous speakers, the most important of it being the permanent appointment of the chief operating officer of the SABC, Mr Hlaudi Motsoeneng.
We indicated that a legal opinion by the Minister cannot override a finding by a Chapter 9 institution, in this regard, the Public Protector's report. We believe that that decision to appoint the chief operating officer flies in the face of the Public Protector's report, and that the report stands until it is taken on review. If the Minister wanted to appoint that person, she should first have taken that decision on review and not relied on a mere legal opinion. We believe that this undermines the status of a Chapter 9 institution and our Constitution itself and, for that reason, we cannot support this Budget Vote. I thank you.