Interviews of Candidates for the SABC Board

Meeting report

Candidates were asked the following question:

• They were asked to give a brief background of themselves (who they were and what they achieved) in relation to the job they were applying for.
• Did they own a TV set and if they paid their TV licenses?

• They were asked about the current state of the SABC and what plans they would introduce to transform the public broadcaster.
  
  
• They were asked whether they would be in a position to take difficult decisions such as drastic job shedding and pay cuts.
  
  
• Did they appreciate the commitment required to serve on the Board in view of their existing commitments.
  
  
• How would they ensure that the executive management did not undermine the authority of the Board?
  
  
• Would they recommend that the new Board conduct a skills audit to determine whether the executive management had the appropriate skills and qualifications?
  
  
  
• They were also asked how they would manage the conflict between the SABC Board and the executive management.
  
  
• They were asked how they would ensure that government as well as other vested parties did not interfere with the news and programming at the SABC.
  
  
• Members examined what management style the candidates would bring to the SABC. They were also asked to elaborate on what experience, expertise and strengths they would bring to the Board.

• They were asked how they would ensure compliance with the Public Finance Management Act.

• They were asked about their views on the creation of a dedicated channel and radio station for Parliament

• They were asked about how they would have handled the controversial blacklisting issue.

• They were asked if they were aligned with any political party at an executive level and if they were, would they allow that to influence their decision-making.
  
  
• Members interrogated how candidates would protect editorial independence

• They were also asked about what the appropriate funding model for the SABC should be.

• They were asked to comment on the fact that the interim Board was currently busy with key appointments within the executive structure.
  
  

• They were asked by the Members of the Committee to share their thoughts on the SABCs decision to close down some of its international news bureaus.
  
  

• They were also asked about how they would deal with the public broadcaster’s migration from analogue to digital.

• They 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.

• They were also asked how they would manage and ensure that the 11 official languages were fully represented, promoted and covered by the SABC.

• Those who had previously criticised the government and the ANC in particular, were asked how they felt about the government and the ruling party and whether they still held the same views that they had expressed in the past.

• Those who had worked as journalists and commentators were asked whether they had written critical articles of all political parties and not just the ruling party.

• Those who had served on the interim board were asked about the causes of the controversy surrounding the removal of the former Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

• How would they address the issue of conflict of interest within the Board or by the executive management?

• Those who belonged to trade unions and political parties were asked if they would vacate their positions on the Board if they had to be elected by their organisations to serve on the executive structures.

• Former board members were asked to explain what had gone wrong at the SABC during their past tenure. In addition, they had to explain what they would do differently if they were appointed to the new board.

• Members referred candidates to certain comments that they had made in the past and asked them to elaborate on them.

• They were asked how they would prefer monitoring and evaluation of the Board to be undertaken, whether this had to be done by increasing Parliament's oversight authority or by the line Ministry despite perceptions that the executive authority was strongly influenced by the ruling party. This question related to the issue of whether candidates saw a need for a system to evaluate Board members through a responsible authority or body such as Parliament or the Executive

• Former board members were asked to explain why the CEO of the SABC and other senior management members had been given bonuses despite the fact that SABC had made a loss

Refer to the audio link above to listen to the candidates’ responses to these questions.

The meeting was adjourned.