Interviews of Candidates for the SABC Board
Communications and Digital Technologies
07 September 2009
Chairperson: Mr I Vadi (ANC)
Meeting Summary
The following short listed candidates were interviewed by the Committee on 8 September 2009:
1) Adv David Lewis
2) Mr Haroun Moolla
3) Mr Kenneth Herold
4) Mr David Niddrie
5) Ms Barbara Masekela
6) Mr Nkomotane Clifford Motsepe
7) Ms Clare Frances O’Neil
8) Mr Sembie Danana
9) Ms Ntebo Peri
In a letter addressed to the Committee, the Save our SABC coalition requested that the CVs of all the candidates be published on Parliament’s website. While all Members were in agreement that this should be the case, they differed on whether the CVs should be posted immediately or after the candidate had been interviewed. Those in favour of immediate publication argued that this would ensure transparency and credibility in the process. Those opposed pointed out that it was unfair for some of the candidates to be scrutinised by the media before they had appeared before the Committee. After a lengthy discussion, the Committee reached a compromise. All CVs would be posted immediately while all candidates would be afforded an opportunity to respond to any comments made about them in the public domain.
The Chairperson highlighted that two candidates had withdrawn their nominations, namely Dr Van Zyl Slabbert and Mr Michael Louis. He asked Members what course of action should be followed given that Mr Zola Luxolo Fihlani was not available for the interviews. After some deliberation, it was decided that Mr Fihlani should be given another chance to avail himself for an interview within the 3 day period set aside for interviews.
Meeting report
Candidates were asked the following questions:
▪ They were asked to give a brief background of themselves, who they were and what they had achieved in relation to the job for which they were applying.
▪ Did they own a TV set and had they paid their TV licence?
▪ They were asked about the current state of the SABC and what plans they would introduce to transform the public broadcaster.
▪ How would they ensure that the executive management did not undermine the authority of the Board.
▪ Would they recommend that the new Board conducts a skills audit to determine if the executive management had the appropriate skills and qualifications?
▪ How would they manage the conflict between the SABC Board and the executive management?
▪ How would they ensure that government as well as other vested parties did not interfere with the news and programming at the SABC?
▪ What management style would they bring to the SABC?
▪ What experience, expertise and strengths would they bring to the Board?
▪ How would they ensure compliance with the Public Finance Management Act?
▪ What was their view on the creation of a dedicated TV channel and radio station for Parliament aired by the public broadcaster?
▪ How would they handle the controversial blacklisting issue?
▪ Were they aligned with any political party at an executive level and if they would allow that to influence their decision making?
▪ How would they protect editorial independence?
▪ What were their views about the appropriate funding model for the SABC?
▪ What was their comment on the fact that the interim Board was currently busy with key appointments within the executive structure?
▪ What were their thoughts on the SABC’s decision to close down some of its international news bureaus?
▪ How would they deal with the public broadcaster’s migration from analogue to digital?
▪ Candidates were asked to define the term “news worthy”. Linked to that, they were asked how they would ensure that all political parties received fair coverage by the SABC.
▪ How would they manage and ensure that the 11 official languages were fully represented, promoted and covered by the SABC?
▪ How would they address conflict of interest within the Board or the executive management.
Refer to the audio link above to listen to the candidates’ responses to these questions.
Audio
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