SABC Board Nomination Process; ICASA Council Vacancy: Shortlisting; Election of Chairperson

Meeting report

COMMUNICATIONS PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE
18 September 2007
SABC BOARD NOMINATION PROCESS; ICASA COUNCIL VACANCY: SHORTLISTING; ELECTION OF CHAIRPERSON

Chairperson:

Mr Ismail Vadi (ANC)

Relevant documents:
Inkatha Freedom Party 18/09/07 email to Committee Chairperson on Ms Gloria Serobe – SABC Board
Nominations: Independent Communications Authority Of South Africa
Committee Program: Fourth Term

Audio recording of meeting

SUMMARY
After electing a new Committee Chairperson, the Committee short-listed six candidates for interviewing from the list of nominations for the vacant Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) Council position. The six candidates that will be interviewed on 9 October are: Mr N T Baloyi, Ms R Msiza, Ms S Booley, Mr T Ndlovu, Mr M Kibido and Mr S Mampuru

The Inkatha Freedom Party then brought to the Committee’s attention a matter concerning the SABC Board nominations. The issue centered on the nomination of Ms Gloria Serobe by the Chief Director of Ministerial Services in the Office of the President and whether the nomination process had been manipulated. Members then discussed how they would approach this particular problem.

MINUTES
Election of Committee Chairperson
Committee members were instructed to elect a new chairperson. Nominations were given and members agreed that Mr Ismail Vadi (ANC) would become the chairperson.

The newly elected chairperson said that he hoped for a strong working environment. He stated that he did not have much experience in the communications sector as he was more familiar with security and environment and that he was counting on members to assist him.

The Chair commented that the communications sector is always growing and changing and that there was great room for interaction between this sector and other sectors so as to facilitate cooperation and coordination. He stated that he would like to see a balance between the interests of the industry and the interests of normal citizens.

The Chair addressed the media stating that he has an open door policy and that he is fairly accessible to all. He thanked the members for their support and announced that there were two items on the agenda that would be discussed.

Short-listing of candidates for the ICASA Council vacancy
The Chair asked members to decide on how many people the list for interviews should have.

Ms D Smuts (DA) commented that in her opinion there were only two people on the list who could take over the ICASA position.

Mr R Pieterse (ANC) stated that the Committee should look at no more than five candidates. The Chairperson agreed that there should be a maximum of five candidates.

Mr M Kholwane (ANC) suggested that the person who would fill the ICASA position would need to have good knowledge of the economy. He then put forward Mr N T Baloyi as his first candidate. Mr Kholwane also nominated Ms A Boshoff as another candidate.

Ms Smuts asked that Mr Kholwane motivate why Ms Boshoff would be qualified for the position.

Mr Pieterse then suggested that the Committee look at all the nominees for the ICASA Council position and provide their party’s selection for interview:

The ANC selected:
Mr N T Baloyi
Ms A Boshoff
Ms R Msiza
Ms S Booley
Mr T Ndlovu

The DA selected:
Ms R Msiza
Mr M Kibido

Ms S Vos (IFP) added:
Mr S Mampuru

Mr K Khumalo (ANC) stressed that the number of candidates for interview should not be decreased for the sake of keeping numbers down.

Ms Smuts then responded that the Committee could not exclude motivation as it was important to convince the Committee that such a candidate was indeed needed.

Mr Pieterse replied that a number of things should be taken into consideration. He reminded committee members that in the past some candidates had not had the best CVs, but they had impressed them in the interviews.

Ms Smuts stated that in the case of Ms Boshoff, she would like some motivation from Mr Kholwane.

The Chairperson then granted the ANC a five-minute recess in order to discuss the motivation, after which the ANC would be called upon to respond to Ms Smuts’s question.

After the break, Mr Pieterse then addressed the committee members and announced that after looking at the broad spectrum of people, the ANC had decided to drop Ms Boshoff as a candidate.

The six candidates will be interviewed on 9 October.

Committee programme for final session of 2007
The Chairperson stated that the Committee would need to finalise the appointment of the ICASA person. He also suggested that a strategic workshop be organized so that the Committee could plan for the next year. The Chair thought that members should go away for a day or two to discuss what they would focus on in the new year. He suggested that committee members look at the draft programme for next year as well.

Ms Smuts stated that she had some suggestions but that she would address them another time. Members agreed that the programme for the last quarter be discussed at a later stage.

The Chair then announced that Ms Vos had an important issue that she wished to discuss with committee members.

SABC Board nominations
Ms Vos stated that the issue revolved around a report that she had received. She said that the IFP felt that the Committee needed to get the official audio tape of candidate interviews for the SABC Board as there was in important issue concerning Ms Gloria Serobe’s nomination. According to Ms Serobe in her interview, she said that she did not know the person who had nominated her. The IFP had discovered that the person who had nominated her, Mr Louis Du Plooy, had indeed discussed it with her in order to get a CV from her to submit with his nomination form. The IFP feels that Ms Serobe may have misled the Committee in order to hide Mr Du Plooy’s link with the Office of Dr Essop Pahad, Minister in the Presidency.

Ms Vos stated that there would be serious implications if failure to inform the Committee was deliberate and that the issue should be fully interrogated.

Ms Vos then raised another issue concerning the nomination. She said that the IFP viewed the nomination as not being fair or democratic as it appeared that the process had been manipulated beyond the reach of Parliament. She informed the Committee that the IFP would request Parliament to fully investigate the issue, to rescind the vote pending a full investigation and to delay sending the matter to the Presidency of the Republic for his selection of SABC Board members until the matter is resolved.

Ms Vos stated again that the IFP wanted to listen to the audio tape and that they would like the tape to be fully transcribed. With regard to the other issue, they would deal directly with Parliament.

Ms Smuts urged members to be careful with the process in order not to implicate those nominees that were innocent in the matter. She stated that it would be unfair to include them in the manipulation and to discredit their nomination. She agreed that the Serobe case was problematic but warned that committee members should not jump to conclusions as they should be careful of suggesting certain actions and motives were dishonourable. Ms Smuts suggested that the committee invite Mr Du Plooy and Mr Pahad to a meeting in order to give them a chance to explain themselves or to say what happened. She agreed that the Committee needed answers.

Mr Kholwane agreed with Ms Smuts saying that the Committee should be careful not to implicate innocent nominees. He also stated that it was not wise to call people in for an interrogation.

Ms Smuts then responded that it would teach Mr Pahad a lesson.

Ms Vos stated that the first step would be to study the audio tapes in order to find out exactly what was said.

The Chairperson asked members if they agreed with Ms Vos’ statement. All members were in agreement and the Chair stated that the audio tapes should be handed over.

The meeting was adjourned.