(Subcommittee) SABC Board interviews

Meeting report

The Committee Secretary noted that the programme initially consisted of six interviews. However, Dr Nombeko Mbava, had withdrawn from the interviews as she had recently been appointed to the Financial and Fiscal Commission by the Presidency. She decided to withdraw her candidacy for both the SABC and MDDA board as she did not wish to over-commit herself. Further, the interview of Ms Senamile Masango would take place on 7 September as she already had a commitment today. Therefore, today's interviews would consist of only four candidates: Mr Mpho Tsedu, Ms Nalini Maharaj, Ms Barbara Sangweni and Dr Rene Horne.

The Chairperson said that he had noted the changes.

Mr Z Mbhele (DA) sought clarity on the five-minute engagement rule. He wanted to know if members were free to ask one question then obtain responses in an interactive format or would each Member ask all their questions at once and then get all the answers. He personally preferred the former way.

The Chairperson clarified that the principle of the five-minute rule included both Members’ questions and candidates’ responses. The purpose of having this rule was to allow candidates to answer all questions. He found that sometimes an interactive format would deprive candidates from responding to certain questions.

The Chairperson added that he personally would not be asking questions but rather checking and verifying those questions for which Members did not get a clear answer.

During each interview, the Chairperson assured the candidate that the Subcommittee had the authority as well as the quorum for the interview to proceed.

The Chairperson asked the candidates to treat the interview process as a conversation. He gave the candidates five minutes to explain who they were, their work experience and academic achievements and provide reasons why the Subcommittee should consider appointing then to the SABC board. After that introduction, a five-minute question session would be given to each Member.

Refer to the audio for the responses.

Mr Mpho Tsedu
Ms P Faku (ANC) appreciated the candidate's commendable academic achievements as a young individual. She asked what his innovative ideas were to assist the SABC roll out of DTT and to grow the entity beyond its financial troubles in recent years.

Ms Faku asked if he had any experience in corporate governance and to demonstrate his understanding on the role of a board against that of the management as those two could overlap sometimes.

Ms Faku asked how he would propose to steer SABC in the digital era.

Mr Z Mbhele (DA) asked the candidate for the SABC 's key shortfall from the perspective of strategic gap identification – whether there are internal or external operating environment factors that are causing its current predicament.

Mr Mbhele noted the candidate’s experience in both TV and radio broadcasting. Drawing on that experience, he asked the candidate to provide an analysis if SABC had a comparative advantage in its radio or TV arm. He asked if it would be of strategic value for the SABC to focus on its comparative advantage and streamline other aspects going forward.

Mr Mbhele was of the view that public-private partnership is vital in the SABC turnaround strategy and building such partnerships is vital to have this synergy to drive the growth of SABC. He asked the candidate if there was any such public private partnership that he would foresee at board level that could grow SABC revenue.

Ms Z Majozi (IFP) pointed out that lack of governance and accountability arrangements is one of the key challenges the SABC faced. This was notably absent in the SABC turnaround strategy. Thus, she asked how the candidate would ensure accountability and good governance if appointed to the SABC board.

Ms Majozi asked the candidate about his strategies and ideas to increase SABC revenue.

Ms Majozi asked what he considered were major legislative / regulatory gaps in the broadcasting space.

Ms N Khubheka (ANC) remarked that the SABC over the years has argued that its public mandates were underfunded and asked the candidate how he viewed this issue.

Ms Khubheka asked what he believed the SABC’s role should be in the digital migration process.

Ms Khubheka asked what in his view should be incorporated into the new Broadcasting Amendment Bill to make the SABC work.

The Chairperson noted that Members’ questions had covered building public private partnerships, digital migration, accountability and governance. Since this appointment would be for the remaining term of the board, he asked the candidate to provide an assessment of the SABC turnaround strategy and if he thought the strategy would be effective in steering it out of this difficult time.

The Chairperson appreciated the candidate’s inputs. 

Ms Nalini Maharaj
Ms Faku noted the candidate’s legal background and her extensive experience in mediation. Using her mediation experience, Ms Faku asked her how she would describe the roles or relationships among the SABC, Minister of Communications and Parliament. She asked the question in the context that the SABC had been characterised by unstable leadership at management level in recent years. There were accusations of political interference by the Department and Parliament.

Ms Faku asked the candidate to give a proposal on the SABC funding model for its sustainability.

Mr Mbhele asked the candidate to identify a key SABC shortfall she had observed. He asked her to answer the question from a governance outlook ­– looking through a high-level strategic lens – on what the board should be focusing.

Mr Mbhele pointed to the lack of consequence management as a key challenge across government and the public entity space. Given the candidate’s legal practice experience in disciplinary matters, he asked what innovative insights she could bring to strengthen the consequence management system at the SABC.

Mr Mbhele asked what unique value based on her networks and experience she could contribute to the SABC board if appointed.

Ms Majozi remarked that one of the key challenges SABC faced was the lack of clarity in governance and accountability arrangements in its turnaround strategy. She asked the candidate if there was a mechanism she had to ensure that the SABC board could rectify this concern.

Ms Majozi asked for her strategies to increase SABC revenue.

Ms Majozi asked what she considered was a major legislative / regulatory gap in the broadcasting space.

Ms Khubheka asked the candidate for her strategic imperatives if appointed to the SABC board, given its operating environment and the challenges it faced.

Ms Khubheka asked the candidate to demonstrate the strategies she would implement to increase market share on all SABC platforms and to improve its funding model.

Ms Khubheka asked what strategies she could think of to get people to pay their TV licence as government is struggling to get people to pay their dues.

The Chairperson asked the candidate to provide an assessment of the SABC turnaround strategy and how the ideas she had just provided fit into the turnaround strategy given that this appointment would be for the remainder of the SABC board term.

The Chairperson appreciated the candidate’s inputs. 

Dr Rene Horne
Ms Faku commented on the importance of having strong women and female leadership in the country. She made reference to Charlotte Maxeke who was the first black woman with a university degree in science. She was happy that more young women are actively participating in and competing for leadership positions.

Ms Faku commented on government’s lack of funding and did not have endless resources to assist SABC. In the SABC turnaround strategy, it contains several cost containment strategies such as reducing employment costs as evidenced by its mass retrenchment and reducing the high signal distribution costs. She asked for the candidate's strategies to improve the SABC funding model, if appointed to the board.

Ms Faku asked for the difference between public and state broadcaster given the candidate's experience working in journalism.

Ms Faku noted the high litigation costs incurred by SABC over the years. The recent audit outcome also shows that it has not performed well in the past financial year. She asked for the candidate's strategies to improve those areas given her experience in risk management.

Mr Mbhele asked what the candidate would consider a key governance shortfall of SABC from a strategic gap intervention perspective. 

Mr Mbhele noted the candidate’s strategic and analytical expertise of the African continent in her CV. He emphasised the vital role of building strategic linkages with the private sector for synergy and mutual benefits. Building partnerships was highlighted in the SABC turnaround strategy. He asked if the candidate had experience of public private partnerships of a domestic, international or multi-sectoral nature that she could bring to the board to drive the success and innovation of the entity going forward.

Ms Majozi remarked that one of the key challenges SABC faced was the lack of clarity in governance and accountability arrangements in its turnaround strategy. She asked if there was a mechanism to ensure that the SABC board could rectify this difficulty – using the candidate’s own experience on the African continent.

Linked to the previous question, Ms Majozi asked for her strategies to increase SABC revenue.

Ms Majozi asked what the candidate considered was a major legislative / regulatory gap in the broadcasting space. She asked the candidate to provide a comparison between the Audio-Visual White Paper and the Broadcasting Amendment Bill.

Ms Khubheka asked the candidate what she would do to deal with SABC funding requirements if appointed to the board.

Ms Khubheka asked the candidate to identify a SABC legislative / regulatory challenge and what she would do to address the challenge.

The Chairperson asked the candidate to provide an assessment of the SABC turnaround strategy and how the ideas she had just provided would fit into the turnaround strategy, given that this appointment would be for the remainder of the SABC board term.

The Chairperson acknowledged the huge challenges the SABC faced. He believed that the cohesiveness of the SABC board would be important in making more progress. He  appreciated the candidate’s input.

Ms Barbara Sangweni
Ms Faku appreciated the candidate’s achievement and experience in the context of women’s empowerment. She asked what the candidate thought were major legislative / regulatory gaps in the broadcasting space given her previous work experience in the SABC policy and regulatory division.

Ms Faku asked the candidate to provide a comparison between the Audio-Visual White Paper and the proposed Broadcasting Amendment Bill.

Mr Mbhele asked the candidate to identify a key SABC shortfall from a governance outlook – looking through a high-level strategic lens ­– that the SABC board should be focusing on.

Given the candidate’s background, Mr Mbhele asked what unique value she would bring to the board in skills, experience and connections.

Ms Majozi stated that although the SABC is a state-owned entity, it currently received only 3% of its funding from government. She asked what the candidate proposed, if appointed, to increase the SABC market share on all platforms including its over-the-top (OTT) platform.

Ms Khubheka asked the candidate what she believed would be the SABC’s role in the digital migration process.

Ms Khubheka asked what her strategic imperatives would be if appointed to the board, given her experience and knowledge of the SABC operating environment and challenges.

The Chairperson asked the candidate to provide an assessment of the SABC turnaround strategy and how the ideas she had just provided would fit into that turnaround strategy, given that this appointment would be for the remainder of the SABC board term.

The Chairperson appreciated the candidate’s inputs. Both the candidate and Members had learnt a lot from each other in the discussion.

Meeting adjourned.