Speaker, Deputy President of the Republic of South Africa, Members of Parliament and our guests, I will start by saying, maybe lambs must learn not to play with lions so that they do not get eaten.
When one door closes, many more open. Last week when we debated the resolution on the dissolution of the board, many speakers said that it was a sad day for the country, but today we must all agree that it is a new beginning and a new hope.
As we enter this critical debate today, millions of our people, including the public broadcaster employees, are anxious. For the employees and those who believe in the SABC, the tsunami came so suddenly, destroying their hard-earned savings and putting their jobs at risk, and they do not trust what they hear, see or read. Worse, they do not see what will turn things around and many are close to losing hope.
It remains our resolve to ensure that the right of our people to receive information is not compromised as we are on record as the country that needs to create an information society. To this end, the public broadcaster plays an important role. Our people have a right to information which allows them to make their choices. And we should not fail them.
On 30 June 2009, the SABC presented its strategic plan and its budget. However, it remains important to see how fast they implement these plans. The country needs your leadership. I am referring to the interim board, as the SABC is in a war for survival, beset by fears, uncertainty and doubts.
As on any battlefield, conditions demand a seriously different kind of leadership from that which is appropriate in peace time. Leaders must be prepared to make strategic, structural, financial and operational changes, many of them drastically, in a hurry, sometimes with incomplete information.
However, what I want to put on record is what really happened. As a committee we started the process of dealing with the nomination of the interim board on 25 June 2009, not as it has been reported. We dealt with that matter on 26 June 2009. We agreed that parties will make their submissions. When we met on 1 July 2009, Cope, the ID and the DA came with wish lists. Only the IFP and MF had proposed names. We were forced to deal with the names of the DA and Cope only on 2 July 2009, in the meeting which started at 12:30, because they did not honour the decision of the committee to submit their names early in the morning for the parties to be able to deal with those names. [Interjections.] That is a fact, nothing else!
It is important to deal with this matter now so that the creation of this hullabaloo is put into proper perspective.
The appointment of the interim board bears testimony to the fact that during the engagement all parties submitted their nominations. It is just that other people behave like children sometimes. When they are angry, they decide to withdraw everything. Unfortunately we cannot account for that. [Applause.]
I agree with Comrade Jessie Duarte when she said:
For this reason, the ANC would wish to see a board in place that is representative of our society in all its manifestations. The interests of the middle class and business can never be the only interests that find resonance in the type of people we need on a board such as the one the SABC must have.
In going forward, learning from the process which we are coming from and being directed by the legislation, namely the Broadcasting Act, Act 4 of 1999, which indicates that the board must be representative, we hope that we are going to be able to engage meaningfully, including with the opposition, to ensure that we get a board which is not going to be under dispute and which is going to be accepted by the society at large.
We followed the issue of T-shirts with great interest because it was raised in this House. We have received the response from the SABC clarifying the matter. The response from the SABC is here; it will be circulated to the parties in the committee. Indeed, we can confirm that the allegations were misplaced and not correct. [Interjections.]
I indicated when I started my speech that lambs must not play with lions if they do not want to be eaten. That is the safe way to go. I don't understand what the opposition is raising. I met with COPE. We had a bilateral with them. Cope persuaded the ANC and said: "In your five names, there are two lawyers. Can you withdraw one so that you give us as opposition a name?" We acceded to that as the ANC.
I hope the hon member from Cope will be sincere when dealing with this matter. I did not hear anything honourable in her statement when she was on the podium. We engaged bilaterally. We agreed to withdraw a name to accommodate the opposition. Why can't people tell the truth? [Applause.]