SABC Board: shortlisting for interviews; appointment process road map

Meeting report

Committee matters

The Chairperson said that the Committee would be finalising the two members to be appointed to the board of the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA), as had been discussed at the previous meeting.

There was a letter from the Deputy Speaker of Parliament on allegations of state capture, and the Committee was tasked to investigate those individuals who were mentioned. The Committee was also tasked to deal with the report on the legal action taken against the Speaker of Parliament.

The Chairperson called for a moment of silence on the passing of Mr Zola Ntutu, who was a veteran journalist at the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC).

The Committee had been invited to the SABC round table discussion on their editorial policy programme on 24 August 2017.

Dr M Ndlozi (EFF) said that although it was an important engagement, there was no need for the entire Committee to travel, and one member could rather represent the Committee at that engagement.

Ms P van Damme (DA) said that the invitation had been sent to individuals and political parties as well, and if individuals wished to attend, then they should be allowed to do so.

SABC Board: Appointment Process

The Chairperson said that the Committee had received over 643 applications, but most of the people had been applying for internships and other jobs within government, and not necessarily for the SABC board. The Committee had had to eliminate all the applicants who were not applying for the SABC board, and it had been a tedious process.

Applicants had been categorised as those who were skilled in finance, legal, HR, etc,. so that when it was time for interviews, the Committee would know which category each individual fell under.

Mr Mbo Maleka, Committee Content Advisor, said that following the resignation of the 2016 Board members of the SABC, and the nomination of the interim board in March 2017, the Committee had been tasked with ensuring that a new SABC Board was nominated before the end of September 2017.

The Interim Board’s tenure was due to end on 26 September 2017, and for the purposes of continuity, the Board would be appointed by the National Assembly in September. The Committee was targeting the National Assembly sitting of 5 September 2017 for the consideration of the Committee report on the appointment of non-executive Board Members of the SABC.

Of the 363 nominations received, the Committee had resolved to shortlist 36 candidates for the 12 Board positions on 22 August 2017. Interviews would be conducted over three days at a rate of 12 candidates per day. This was bearing in mind that some processes were dependent on Parliamentary services and other state institutions, and could impact on the Committee’s targets for the term.

There had been an extra 348 applications which were not considered because some applicants were looking for internships even though the job advert was not internships, while some had not indicated which ‘Board’ they were applying for, since the Committee had advertised for ‘Board’ positions for two different entities -- the SABC and the ICASA council.

The Parliamentary Human Resources (HR) team had not considered candidates who had not responded to the advert. There was no policy that stipulated the number of candidates the Committee could shortlist for a position. Verification of South African qualifications would take three to five days, while it would take three weeks for international qualifications. Managed Integrity Evaluation (MIE) was the service provider that would be verifying the qualifications of applicants. Consent forms for verification of qualifications would be sent to the candidates immediately after the Committee had completed its short-listing.

Compliance to the Broadcasting Act of 1999 was the criteria used to shortlist candidates. Section 13 (1) set out that 12 non-executive members of the SABC Board should be appointed by the President of the Republic on the advice of the National Assembly (NA). Section 13 (2) set out that the Non-Executive members of the SABC Board would be appointed in a manner ensuring participation by the public in a nomination process, transparency and openness, and that a shortlist of candidates for appointment would be published, taking into account the objectives and principles of the Act.

Section 13 (4) set out the requirements for the individuals required on the SABC Board. It stated that the members of the Board must, when viewed collectively, be persons suited to serve on the Board by virtue of their qualifications, expertise and experience in the fields of broadcasting policy, technology, broadcasting regulation, media law, frequency planning, business practice and finance, marketing, journalism, entertainment and education, social and labour issues; persons committed to fairness, freedom of expression, the right of the public to be informed, and openness and accountability on the part of those holding public office; represent a broad cross-section of the population of the Republic; and be persons who were committed to the objectives and principles as enunciated in the Charter of the corporation.

The appointment process would start with Parliament advertising for suitable candidates to apply for positions on the Board; followed by a resolution on the number of candidates to be short-listed; followed by deliberations on the 36 nominated candidates, which would involve public participation and HR reviews; followed by interviews of candidates in the Portfolio Committee; followed by a report to the National Assembly on the 12 successful candidates to be the Non-Executive Board Members of the SABC; followed by a National Assembly resolution to appoint the 12 SABC Non-Executive Board Members.

After candidates were short-listed on 22 August 2017, the Committee would allow for a one-week process to verify qualifications, consult with State Security South Africa, and open up for public participation. Interviews would be held from 30 August 2017 to 1 September 2017. The Committee would deliberate on 3 September 2017. The National Assembly adoption process would be on 5 September 2017, at which point the names would be recommended to the President for appointment.

Discussion

The Chairperson said that the most important issue was to ensure that the Committee met the deadline.

Mr R Tseli (ANC) asked if the 36 short-listed names would be published only on the Parliamentary website, or if they would also be published in other bulletins.

Ms Van Damme asked what wording would be used on the Parliamentary website.

Mr Maleka replied that as soon as the names were adopted by the Committee, they would be published on the website. From 22 to 29 August, people would be allowed to comment on the short-listed candidates.

Mr Thembinkosi Ngoma, Committee Secretary, said that in previous years, portfolio committees would publish short-listed candidates on the particular committee’s website, but there had been a change and the names would now be published on the Parliamentary website, as per the Public Protector’s recommendation.

Dr Ndlozi said that when a member recommended a name, they needed to say the number so that everyone was on the same page.

Short-listing of Candidates by Political Parties

Mr M Kalako (ANC) said that he proposed all five current members of the Interim SABC Board be short-listed, since they had all applied and that there was no need to discuss them because the Committee was acquainted with them and satisfied with their work thus far.

The Chairperson said the five interim board members had done a sterling job, and perhaps they should inform part of the 36 short-listed candidates.

The five Interim SABC Board Members were Ms Kweyama,  as Chairperson of the Board, Mr M Tsedu as Deputy Chairperson, Mr K Naidoo, Mr J Matisson and Ms F Potgieter-Gqubule.

Ms Van Damme asked if each Committee member would be giving their nominated candidates and explanation. or just the number of the person nominated.

Ms L van der Merwe (IFP) suggested that the Committee give their preferred numbers of candidates.

The ANC nominated candidates 2, 46, 22, 37, 43, 47, 57, 58, 81, 103, 178, 181, 220, 231, 233, 239, 252, 282, 335 and 96.

The DA nominated candidates 2, 3, 14, 15, 16, 22, 32, 43, 56, 61, 73, 86, 96, 105, 112, 116, 122, 164, 176, 181, 182, 205, 212, 221, 236, 237, 243, 262, 294, 295, 296, 306, 308, 332 and 338.

The EFF nominated candidates 174, 309, 2, 343 and 28.

The small parties represented by COPE and IFP nominated candidates 2, 15, 43, 56, 93, 116, 147, 243, 244, 245, 262, and 205.

After the names had been suggested, Ms Van Damme proposed that all the candidates that the political parties had in common be put on the projector screen so that it could be noted that there was no contention on those candidates, and the Committee could take a 30-minute break to consider all the names proposed.

Ms M Matshoba (ANC) proposed that the Committee take a break at 12pm, and make use of the lunch break to deliberate.

Dr Ndlozi suggested that the ANC and DA cut off some of their candidates, because their lists were too long -- they were each proposing more than 20 candidates.

Ms Van Damme said that their list was 36 because those were the 36 candidates they would want as the DA to serve on the SABC Board. They would agree or compromise on certain candidates, and with others they would not.

The Chairperson said that the lists needed to be incorporated so that common candidates could be removed from the debate, since the Committee was in agreement.

Mr Tseli said that they could not break until they knew how many numbers the Committee had put forth and after having convinced each other, they could then decide how many candidates they were willing to compromise on.

The meeting was adjourned for a 15-minute break.

Mr Maleka said that there were 15 common candidates, five of whom were the current members of the Interim Board, and 10 of them were commonalities between more than two political parties.

Ms Van Damme proposed that all the common candidates supported by more than one party be put forward as short-listed candidates.

Mr M Gungubele (ANC) seconded the proposal.

Mr Tseli suggested that maybe the ANC could present their names, since some of their names were common with some of the other parties.

Dr Ndlozi said that they should debate only on the 16 remaining candidates to be shortlisted. COPE had one name remaining, the EFF had two names left, and the DA had 10 names.

Ms Matshoba asked why the DA had a revised list of 10 names, and said that they needed to cut their list down further.

Ms Van Damme said that there was no law that said that political parties had to be limited on their numbers. Each party had proposed their own numbers and had reached an agreement on 20 names. The remaining 16 were up for debate and compromise.

Dr Ndlozi suggested that the ANC remove the 15 names that were already agreed on, and present only the names that they were proposing so that it could be clear which candidates they wanted to include.

Ms N Tolashe (ANC) suggested that the Committee go on a break so that they could consult with one another and agree on sizeable numbers before debating with other parties.

The meeting was adjourned for lunch until 2pm.

During the lunch break, Committee members had discussed and reached an agreement on 20 short-listed candidates. These were 2, 43, 178, 181, 96, 15, 243, 56, 116, 22, 3, 32, 28, 174, 93, plus the five current Interim Board Members.

For the remaining 16 to be shortlisted, the Committee had agreed that the ANC would submit eight preferred candidates, the DA would submit five, the EFF would submit two, and COPE would submit one candidate.

When the final 36 names were read, Mr Kalako said that candidate 252, Mr Kama was not on the list of short-listed candidates.

Dr Ndlozi and Mr G Davis (DA) both said that Mr Kama did not possess the qualifications necessary to be considered for the position, and was therefore not a good candidate.

Mr Madisha said that applicant number 252 had not been mentioned during the discussion when the Committee members gone to lunch and discussed among themselves as political parties. The ANC had added their eight names, the DA their five names, EFF their two names, and COPE had added its one name.

Dr Ndlozi said that without candidate 252, they already had 36 short-listed candidates.

There had been a repetition of a candidate on the 36 short-listed applicants for interviews. The Committee agreed to remove the error, and replace the slot with candidate 252.

Dr Ndlozi said that candidate 252 was part of the short-listed names, and that if the ANC wanted him to be interviewed, then this was acceptable.

Mr Davis said that the process was flawed in that out of the 20 common names, candidate 252 had not been agreed on by all the political parties, and the applicant did not have the necessary qualifications anyway.

Dr Ndlozi said that Mr Davis was wrong in saying that applicant 252 did not have the qualifications, because he did, but rather that he was not the right candidate that they were looking for.

Dr Ndlozi said that if the ANC really wanted candidate 252 to be short-listed, then that was alright. It was the Committee as a whole that conducted interviews, and it was not as if candidate 252 was guaranteed appointment to the SABC Board.

Mr Davis said that according to the Act of the SABC, members of the board needed to be qualified in media law, social and labour issues, etc. and candidate 252 did not possess those qualifications in his experience.

Final short-listed candidates

The final 36 short-listed candidates were:

1.   Mathatha Tsedu (205)

1. Krish Naidoo (147)
2. Khanyisile Kweyama (262)
3. Febe Potgieter-Gqubule (244)
4. John Mattison (105)
5. Nomvuyiso Batyi (2)
6. Rachel Kalidass (43)
7. Thabiso Ramotso (178)
8. Dzuguda Rufus Kharidzha (181)
9. Michael Markovitz (96)
10. Willi Currie (15)
11. Sandile Kama (252)
12. Deenadaylen Konar (56)
13. Harriet Meier (116)
14. Dawn Earp (22)
15. Michael Bauer (3)
16. Judge Chris Greenland (32)
17. Desmond Golding (28)
18. Manaka Mathumo (93)
19. Victor Rambau (174)
20. Tshifhiwa Khoromba (49)
21. Mcebo Khumalo (50)
22. Seipati Khumalo (51)
23. Thidziambia Nethengwe (152)
24. Cikizwa Dingi (19)
25. Louise Vale (212)
26. Yaasir Haffejee (247)
27. Kwanele Gumbi (245)
28. Jack Devnarian (16)
29. Bongumusa Makhathini (86)
30. Nkosana Mbokane (112)
31. Michael Sass (182)
32. Jim Matsho (294)
33. Jack Phahlane (343)
34. Dinkwanyane Mohuba (309)
35. Leanne Govindsamy

The Chairperson said that they had had a good meeting and covered a lot of ground.

A motion to adopt the report on the short-listed candidates was proposed by Mr Gungubele, and seconded by Mr Tseli.

The meeting was adjourned.